


The Storm

by The_idea_master



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-01-01 04:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12148170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_idea_master/pseuds/The_idea_master
Summary: A Percy Jackson AU centered around the high school lives of teenagers Thalia Grace and Reyna who live in a small town where strange things are happening.Thalia Grace is the punk everyone knows and nobody cares for. Stuck with a drunk for a mother her father bailed a long time ago and her brother left to pursue his success at an out of state highschool. Thalia's best friend Reyna soon left too wanting to ditch the small town and the dark cloud that loomed ofer her family's name leaving Thalia all alone, and feeling abandoned.What happens when Reyna returns to her hometown finding that things outside her little world are just as bad as they used to be. What's worse, how will she react when  she discovers that Thalia's changed more than she ever thought and weird things are going on in Half Blood County.People are going missing, from Bianca Di Angelo who was mysteriously killed in a car accident, Zoë Nightshade who just dissapeared, and Charles Beckendorf who was killed in a house fire.Follow this coming of age story where you've never seen these characters like this ever before.





	1. Chapter 1

Things were quiet like they'd always been. The school was in the same spot like always, the railway tracks still passed under the bridge and lead into open country, the park still had a broken slide, and Reyna's house hadn't changed at all. 

"Rey you have school get going." Hylla grabbed her younger sister's backpack and tossed it to her from across the room. Reyna had been staring out the window for some time now just observing the familiar scenery. 

"Right. Senior year. How wonderful." She sighed catching the bag with ease and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Don't be so dramatic things will be okay." Hylla promised grabbing her shoes and sitting down to slip them on. 

"Right. I doubt anyone's going to remember me." Reyna mumbled grabbing her lunch off the counter. 

"They'll remember us Reyna. People always do." Hylla sighed. It was true, as much as they tried the two girls couldn't avoid their father's name. It was what happened when your dad was the crazy man of the town even if he'd served in the war. No one remembered that. He didn't get to die an honorable hero. Instead he passed as a man burdened by demons he couldn't fight. 

"Thanks." Reyna gave Hylla a quick hug before at last stepping outside to greet the autumn air and sun. Grabbing her bike she pedaled quickly down the road. The school wasn't too far away and the breeze was a nice feeling running its fingers through her hair. 

Cars crawled by at a slow pace as they always had and the small parking lot of the high school came into focus. Only a select few kids were lucky enough to have cars. For the most part people didn't need them as everything was close together. You could walk from place to place easily. That didn't mean that people enjoyed doing it however. 

Racing onto campus the tires screeched as Reyna pushed on the breaks leaving tire tracks on the pristine sidewalk. Slipping easily onto he bike rack and slapping a lock to make sure the bike wasn't stolen she quickly headed for her first period. 

Reyna had been back for about a week or two but this was her first day of school, it would be interesting to see how that played out. She and Hylla had managed to lay low but that was about to end and in all honesty Reyna wasn't prepared for the amount of attention her appearance would draw. 

"Hey. Um....I'm here to pick up my schedule." Reyna adjusted her backpack strap nervously as the front desk lady studied her with an intense scrutiny. Reyna could practically feel the judgement burning in the woman's gaze as she was silently handed a sheet of paper. 

Reyna didn't know any of the teachers at all. It seemed like the ones she'd once known had been fired or had moved on with their lives. A bit ironic, she thought. 

Navigating the halls wasn't hard. The school's layout hadn't changed at all. Still the same two story building it had always been. With the one story arts building off to the left. First floor, room 219. Reyna scanned the numbers above the doors until she finally spotted the direct one. Great I start my day with math. Joy. 

Reyna wasn't bad at school, in fact she was really good at it, but that didn't mean she actually enjoyed it. The homework was always annoying, she hated how time consuming it could be. She'd rather just do the lesson in class. Only the teachers were the type of people who refused to give in class time to work on assignments even if the lesson was done twenty minutes early. 

The school system in general annoyed Reyna. It consisted of entitled kids who walked around like they owned the place because despite living I a small town, the h skies were massive and people were loaded its cash. Then there were those like herself who were stuck with little. The wage gap was massive and it reflected the social structure within high school itself.  

It didn't matter that she was a Senior, it mattered that her sister was working two jobs and could still hardly keep them afloat. Just the mere thought of the dumb social hierarchy made Reyna's pulse quicken. 

Grasping the door handle she opened it cautiously, almost afraid, to reveal a classroom full of kids and a female teacher. There was nothing like having twenty sets of eyes trained on you. 

"You must be the new student in my class." The woman smiled beckoning Reyna inside. "Don't be shy none of us bite." 

"Well I'd hope not." Reyna tried for a joke but no one except the teacher even cracked a smile. Hesitantly stepping inside Reyna was guided to the front of the classroom. 

"Introduce yourself." The teacher smiled encouragingly. 

"Um...I'm Reyna. I used to love here but I moved and...now I'm back." The room was so awkwardly quiet one coiled have heard a shuffle of paper and mistaken it for the bang of a grenade. 

"Hey Reyna." The unexpected reply drew her attention and she glanced up to see a surprisingly familiar face. 

"Hey Percy." He didn't seem to have changed much other than the fact that he was much taller, and seemed to have a sort of melancholy air surrounding him. 

No one else said anything and Reyna was given her seat at the back of the room in the far right corner. She paid attention like always, taking notes and trying desperately to figure out where the class was as far as calculus went. 

The bell couldn't have come any sooner because Reyna was very much aware of re fact that people were giving her off looks and whispering not so quietly about her. They should just mind their own damn business. I bet their parents have done worse. I know Jared's dad bought the cops off so he wouldn't get marked for a DUI. 

Still this did little to settle the poor girl's nerves. Her leg bounced spastically under the desk. She tried to focus but it's hard when all you can hear are those stupid whispers. Most of them fake and rumor based. All of them about you. About your father and mother and sister when they had no right to discuss things they didn't know about. 

It was so hard not to want to chuck an eraser at the back of their heads. To get them to be quiet or just tell for them to shut up. When the bell finally screeched its signal Reyna was the first to scramble to her feet. She wanted out of their as fast as possible. 

And so that was the process for her first three periods. Introduce yourself and then listen to everyone talk about you. Listen to their stupid lies and remarks and pray you had the strength to not kill someone.

When lunch came Reyna was already exhausted beyond belief. Pulling the hood of her jacket up over her head she decided to drown out the rest of the world with a bit of music. 

It was much nicer this way, she didn't have to focus on them, just let the beat of the music wash through her. First stop, bathroom, after that? Lunch. 

Reyna made her way into the courtyard and walked quickly towards the outside bathrooms knowing that hardly anyone ever actually went in those. They were too gross for the well off kids. They probably have hired maids to clean everything for them. I bet they even wipe their asses after all these years. 

The mere thought of this produced a rather humorous image to occur on Reyna's head and for the first time that day she smiled. Only if wasn't meant to last. A sharp urgent tone broke through the best of her music. 

"I know exactly what you've been doing. You think no one knows or cares to pay attention but I do. I'm onto you and you're not getting away with anything that's happened." Unable to correctly determine who the voice belonged to, Reyna removed her earbuds and leant against the side wall. Whoever was participating in the conversation was out of sight behind the bathrooms. 

"Stay out of this. You have another thing coming for you." Came the gravelly reply. 

"Like hell I do. I know what you did to Bianca and Zoë, even Annabeth. You sick twisted asshole. I don't know what your game is here but I'm going to pin you. And all those cops you bought off are going to arrest you once I've gathered proof. " The tone of voice sounded oddly familiar. 

"You owe me a debt. So stay out of this or you're going to be in big trouble little girl. You're just some whore's kid. You were an accident. If I have to get rid of you too in sure no one will notice. You're just a punkass wanna be." There came a frustrated growl and the sound of scuffling. Swallowing hard Reyna hesitantly stepped around the corner to see a tall blonde boy pressing an unfortunate girl against the back of the building with a blade in his hand. 

"Hey." Reyna wasn't sure how or why she'd said anything but she instantly regretted it when two fierce blue eyes belonging to the boy glared at her. The expression quickly turned to one of panic and he pocketed the blade in a rush. Reyna thought she recognized him but was unable to tell in the shadow of the bathroom's roof. 

The girl he'd managed to get a hold of kneed him in the balls and shoved him to the ground before high railing it out of there. Thinking it a pretty smart idea Reyna did the same. Unlike usual, Reyna ate lunch inside for once. If she hadn't been nervous before she was nervous now. 

There was a kid who had a knife on campus. Part of her wanted to say something but the other part was terrified he'd gut her like a fish as he'd tried to do with the other girl. 

What was worse, whoever this kid was he was apparently dangerous. And he had something to do with the events Reyna had heard about writhing the first day or two of coming back to town. Bianca Di Angelo, killed on a car crash despite the pictures indicating her wounds were partially from sleuthing else. Then there was Zoë Nightshade, mysteriously vanished without a trace at all. 

What Reyna didn't know about however was Annabeth. Sure she knew Annabeth vaguely from elementary school, the girl always seemed pretty cool, but it seemed like Annabeth was he only one who'd survived any of these weird events. 

The shriek of the bell made Reyna's heart stop for a split second before her pulse slowed and she relaxed. Two more periods of the day and she'd be alright. She just had to make it home and pretend none of this happened. 

Throwing away her trash and grabbing her backpack Reyna rushed to class but that didn't keep her from periodically glancing over her shoulder for any unseen threat. Maybe she was paranoid but she couldn't think of anyone else in that situation who wouldn't be. 

Chemistry was slow and the time seemed to stretch on forever. All throughout last period Reyna glanced at the clock desperately, as if it would somehow make things speed up. Come on. Two minutes hurry up. The faster I get out of here the better...and probably the safer. 

Reyna couldn't help but think back o the conversation. At least one of the people sounded familiar but she couldn't quiet place it. It was somehow the same but also foreign. 

The bell rang at last and Reyna bolted to her feet having packed up a while ago. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she glanced nervously about before slipping into the hallway. Should be safer in a crowd. I hope. Just make it to the parking lot. 

Reyna uttered a sigh of relief when she made it safely and quickly outside spotting her bike. Half walking half jogging over she began to expertly undo the lock. Pulling the cable and rolling it up Reyna stuffed the tether into her backpack. 

Slinging a leg over the bike she perched on the edge of her seat and guided it out of the rack until it was open territory for riding. Glancing left and right Reyna began to weave her way through the parking lot going slow just to be safe. 

The blaring sound of a horn honking jolted Reyna to look in the direction of the sound. A large truck was lurching towards her. 

"Shit." In a split second decision she stumbled off of her bike and bolted to the other side of the road hearing the unmistakable sound of breaking spokes and popping tires. A few bystanders looked on with wide eyes but immediately retreated from the seen. 

"That was my bike!" Reyna yelled looking at the crumbled skeleton of her only ride home. The door opened on the passenger seat and the driver's seat revealing two blonde haired guys. 

"Sorry honey." The one who spoke first had a long scar running down the side of his face and his eyes danced mischievously matching his impish grin. The other boy was much skinner but he seemed to radiate a cold and calculating aura. 

"You better explain what that was for." Reyna glowered at the two high schoolers as they stepped closer. Upon further notice, Reyna recognized the smaller one. "Octavian." 

"So you do remember me." He smiled tilting his head to the side. "Charming. And to answer your question that's what happens to people who interfere with our business." 

"You pulled a knife on someone." Reyna's eyes narrowed drastically. "You're lucky I didn't tell anyone." 

"No, you're lucky." The larger one said crossing his arms over his chest. "You tell anyone about what happened and we'll have a problem. We won't want that now would we?"

They were both so close now Reyna knew she probably shouldn't have said what she did, "Try me. You think I'm afraid of you Octavian? You've never been able to throw your weight around, you're all talk." 

Octavian bristled at the comments his fists clenching so that the skin became taught and white. The other boy threw an arm across his chest and in a flash had a hand cupping the back of Reyna's neck so that she couldn't escape. 

"Watch yourself newbie, I know who you are." His voice was deadly calm. 

"Let go of me now." Reyna was prepared to hit him, so what if she got expelled on the first day of school? He wasn't going to get away with man handling her. Only Reyna didn't get the chance to do so. Something whistled through the air and suddenly the boy was in the ground clutching a bloodied nose. 

"Don't ever man handle a girl." Reyna was quick to look at whoever had just taken the kid out only to find a rather skinny looking auburn haired girl holding a rock in her hand. 

"You shouldn't get involved runt." Octavian turned towards her and Reyna didn't want to stick around to find out what happened. Turning curtly on her heel Reyna made a move to bolt when something grabbed her ankle. The kid on the ground had latched onto her. 

"Let go." Reyna lashed out connecting with his shoulder and scrambled to her feet when the sound of screeching tires rang in her ears once more. A motorcycle skidded to a halt a mere foot in front of her. 

Scrambling to her feet complete shock washed through her. "Thalia? What the hell?" 

"Just get on the bike." Came the reply and a helmet was thrusters into Reyna's hands. Before she even knew what was happening she was sitting on the back of a motorcycle tearing out of a high school parking lot. 

"What about the girl?" Reyna yelled over the wind. 

"She can handle herself. Trust me." Thalia replied. After a moment their speed slowed down as a moment of silence passed between them. "You bail out of town three years ago and now you pop up again? Thought you were getting into a prestigious high school."

"I was, but things didn't work out." Reyna replied heart still racing with adrenaline. 

"Then answer me this." Thalia glanced over her shoulder. "What the hell are you doing back in Half Blood County?"


	2. Gone

Thalia waited for a response for a long time but she didn't receive one. That was fine, she didn't expect one, at least not from Reyna. As it would turn out people in Thalia's life weren't big on explanations. They didn't care much about justifying their actions. 

The entire ride was silent from the moment Thalia had asked her question. What'd you expect? Thalia slowed only when she entered her neighborhood, the same old place with the one story houses of plain tan color. No big deal, unimportant houses for unimportant people.

The rumbling of the engine slowed until the motorcycle stopped in the driveway next to a beat up car that had seen many days of horrible weather. It wasn't like they had a lot of money to fix the car anyways. 

Thalia slipped off the bike and stomped on the kickstand so it wouldn't fall over. Reyna clambered off awkwardly and held out the helmet. Thalia took it and tucked it under her arm. 

"Wait here." Reyna nodded and stood awkwardly in the familiar driveway. Thalia ran off inside to do what? Reyna had no clue. What she did know was that Thalia was very, very different. She'd grown a lot taller than when Reyna had last seen her. 

They were approximately the same height now, give or take half an inch. Thalia had always had beautiful eyes but there was something different about them now, mysterious almost. She'd grown leaner, even more athletic before and her style had only increased in pink vibes. Then there was the hair, informed with blue streaks and shorter than it used to be. Lastly the double helix pierced ear. It was extremely odd. 

Thalia came back after a minute and leapt off the top step leading up to her door with ease. "Mom's not home so feel free to come in." 

Reyna tucked her hands in her pockets and followed the other girl inside. The house smelled relatively the same but their was a lingering sour like stench. Thalia eased the front door shut behind them before resting the helmet on a table by the door. Shedding her leather jacket she made her way to the kitchen in search of a snack. 

Reyna followed curiously but was not expecting what she saw. There were old wine glasses stained with different liquids resting in the sink. The open fridge adorned all sorts of alcoholic beverages and it had never looked so much like a bar before. 

"Your kitchen...the bottles." Reyna noticed that Thalia's  shoulders tended at the mention of the contraband resting about. 

"Don't worry. They're not mine." Thalia had forgotten to grab a snack when she shut the fridge door. Perhaps she wasn't as hungry as Reyna had thought. Or perhaps she'd lost her appetite. 

"Oh...sorry I didn't mean it to sound like o was accusing you-"

"It's my mom." Came the flat remark cutting off Reyna's sentence. I guess that conversation is over, Reyna shook her head. "Anyways, you have explaining to do."

"Can we go upstairs? Haven't seen your room in a while." It was another diversion and Thalia knew it but if it got Reyna to talk so be it. Thalia guided her down the hall to the last room on the right and opened the door. 

"It's different than before. I hope you don't mind." Thalia reached over to the wall and flicked on the lights. It was indeed very different. The walls had previously been plain and boring but now there was hardly a clean inch of space. There were band posters decorating the space above a cluttered desk. Strings of blue lights hanging from the ceiling like strands of stars but the most impressive was the wall next to Thalia's bed. 

It was completely covered in pictures and postcards of all sorts. Some of them Reyna recognized. Thalia sat cross legged on her bed watching Reyna with an intense scrutiny as the girl examined the wall closer than before. 

Reyna smiled lightly at a photo she knew too well. It was her, Thalia, Jason, and Hylla smiling with heir arms slung around one another. Can't believe she kept this. It was from the fifth grade. 

Next to it was a picture Reyna had never seen before. It seemed more recent, maybe from last year. It was similar to the other one but there were new faces. Reyna recognized the auburn haired girl from earlier but their were two more. One who looked to be of an Italian decent, and then there was another with dark hair and caramel colored skin. Lastly of course there was Thalia smiling brightly in the middle.

"Who are they?" Reyna asked glancing at Thalia from over her shoulder. 

"My friends." Was the reply. 

"What are their names? Were they good friends?" Reyna asked turning her attention back to the wall. 

"Yeah. Yeah they were." The sadness that seeped into Thalia's voice was enough to draw Reyna's attention back again. 

"What are their names?" Reyna questioned sitting across from Thalia on the bed. 

"The girl right there," Thalia pointed to the picture. "That's Bianca, Nico's sister you remember him don't you?"

"Yeah of course." Reyna nodded recalling the young boy who reminded her very much of Thalia. 

"Yeah she uh, died in a car accident. The one next to the red head is Zoë Nightshade. She just disappeared one day. No warning. Nothing. Gone." Thalia's eyes drifted away from the photo but Reyna could see the sadness in them. "There's only two of us left from that photo."

"I'm sorry. I...how can someone leave like that?" Reyna asked shaming her head. 

"Gee I don't know." Thalia's tone of voice changed and Reyna could hear the hostility in it. 

"Listen my case is different you knew ahead of time." Reyna sighed. 

"It's not different at all. It was like you fell off the face of the planet. What's worse you just bailed right after everything happened." Thalia shook her head and flopped down onto her back. 

"What did you expect me to do? I couldn't fix your problems Thals and I had to take care of my own." Reyna ran a hand through her hair. 

"But you could have stayed. We could have figured things out together." Thalia stared blanking at the ceiling. 

"I was trying to do something, get away from this place so I wouldn't be stuck here forever. Not like my dad. This place drove him nuts Thalia." Reyna didn't mean to sound as harsh as she did. 

"Reyna you left me alone. My dad left two weeks before, just bailed without an explanation. Then Jason left, for his education which I can forgive him for a bit but he left me alone with mom. Once dad left and then Jason she got worse. All she does is come home drunk and men come home too. It's like I don't exist. Everyone just left you were my last hope and you bailed too. Do you expect me to be happy?" Silence settled like a thick blanket. 

"I'm sorry. I really am. But it seems like you had people here to help you." Reyna glanced back at the photo. 

"Yeah. Sure." Thalia laughed bitterly. "Doesn't make things better anymore does it? Octavian the asshole, pulled a knife on me."

"That was you?!" Reyna asked her eyebrows sky rocketing. 

"Yeah....wait, you're the one who spooked him. That's why he went after you in the parking lot isn't it?" Reyna nodded in response. 

"Who was the other boy?" Reyna questioned. 

"Luke Castellan." Thalia's gaze lowered. "That's him." 

She pointed to another picture where the same boy was smiling happily while piggy backing a blonde girl with curly hair. "We used to be friends but something happened and he changed. Now? He's with all those stupid rich kids like Octavian, Orion, and Drew."

"I'm sorry that really sucks." The guilt that slowly began to creep into Reyna's chest was nearly too much. "Thank you for saving me back there. It means a lot. Make sure to tell your friend thanks for me as well." 

"You act like we won't see each other." Thalia smiled very slightly. 

"Well, I just thought...."

"I still go to school there." Thalia said gesturing out the window for emphasis. "I'll see you around. Besides we clearly have the same lunch." 

"Yeah I guess you could say that." Reyna laughed. "You know I wouldn't mind hanging out with you. If that's okay. Picking up where we left off maybe things can go back to how they were?"

"Yeah, but things aren't going to be the same Reyna I hope you understand that. There's things I can't change that happened when you left. " Thalia stood up and shed her leather jacket revealing yet another surprising feature. A tattoo. 

It was a simple design except for the coloring. Wings that started from her shoulder blades and sprawled out down her arms. The feathers were colored to look like the stars in a night sky and were outlined in white. It painted a beautiful picture of the cosmos. 

"I like the tattoo. It's very poetic." Reyna mused. 

"That's not all of it." Thalia said glancing back at her childhood friend. "Here." 

She wriggled out of her black tank top and clutched it in her hand. Reyna was surprised to see that there was indeed more to it. An arrow traversed straight down the path of her spine the very tip disappearing just below the waistband of her jeans. 

"Did that hurt?" Dear god I'd never get anything like that. 

"Like hell." Thalia laughed putting her shirt back on. Reyna rolled her eyes already feeling like they were back like hey used to be. Only it wasn't meant to last. The sound of the front door banging open caused Thalia to nearly jump a foot in the air. "Oh shit."

"What?" Reyna asked as Thalia peeked out the window. 

"Mom's home. Come on you gotta blast." Thalia popped open the window and beckoned Reyna over. She didn't hesitate to cross the length of the room. "Just go we can talk later maybe." 

"Are you sure?" Reyna asked despite the fact that Thalia was practically throwing her friend out the window. 

"Just go!" Thalia winced hearing uneven footsteps walking down the hall. Reyna didn't argue anymore and toppled out of the window as Thalia slammed it shut just as the door was thrown open. Reyna winced feeling the palm of her hand scraped against the ground. She could hear yelling coming from inside. 

Scrambling into her knees she carefully peered through the window glancing through a gap in the curtains.  Beryl Grace looked nothing like Reyna remembered. She wasn't as lovely and happy. Now she looked thin and pale with dark circles clinging to the undersides of her eyes. Her eyes themselves seemed dull and lifeless, her blonde hair was not as neat and pristine as it had been. 

I shouldn't be snooping. Reyna tore her eyes away from the scene and turned towards the driveway scampering off down the sidewalk. The walk home took much longer than expected and it was starting to grow dark by the time Reyna made it home. Just as she was walking through the front door the phone in her back pocket dinged. 

Thals: You still have this number right? 

Reyna smiled surprised that Thalia hadn't deleted her number a long time ago. 

Rey: Yeah. Didn't know you still had me in your contacts. 

Thals: Didn't have it in me to get rid of it. Anyways tomorrow after school you think you can hitch a ride with me and my friend to the farm just out of town? 

Rey: Yeah sure. Why?

Thalia: It's where she and her brother live. Anyways, I figured you deserve to be filled in after what happened today. There's some shady stuff going on here.

Rey: I figured out that much but...I have a feeling there's a lot more to the story. 

Thals: You have no idea. She just told me something happened today. 

Rey: What? Is it bad? 

Thals: The police just found a burning car just outside of town. No one was in it thankfully. 

Rey: Whose is it? 

Thals: Silena's. You remember her don't you?

Rey: Yeah of course. Is she okay?

Thals: No one knows. 

Rey: How come?

Thals: No one can find her Reyna. 

Rey: What's that supposed to mean?

Thals: Exactly that. She just disappeared. Gone. 

Thals: Exactly like Zoë.


	3. Drive

There seemed to be a tension filled air surrounding the school as rumors had passed around about what had happened the previous day. Reyna was unlucky enough to get up earlier than normal to walk to school. The morning air was chipper with a cool breeze wafting through the air. 

The sound of tires slowing and grinding against the gravel alerted her of an approaching vehicle. A blue Prius slowed to a near stop next to her and the window rolled down revealing a blonde curly haired girl, Annabeth, and a particular Jackson sitting in the driver's seat. 

"Need a ride?" He asked turning the music down a little bit so that his voice could carry over the engine of the car. 

"I'm alright." Reyna smiled adjusting her backpack. 

"Get in the car Reyna." Percy chuckled unlocking the door. Reyna rolled her eyes and slipped into the back seat surprised to find the car rather clean. Percy wasn't well known for his tidiness. "I heard what happened yesterday. Castellan's a dick." 

"Percy." Annabeth gave him a slight glare. 

"Sorry babe." He patted her shoulder picking up speed to go just over e speed limit. "Point is he's not the olden boy he used to be. Dot even get me started on his lackies. Bunch of nut cases they are."

"So I've been told. Are they really responsible for everything that's happened?" Reyna asked resting her bag on the cars floor. 

"Responsible? No he doesn't have the brains. Besides this town has always been weird. We just get a bunch of bad luck. Zoë probably had enough and just cut all ties. Bianca was a...very bad accident I...listen just its best to not think to much about it." Percy sighed leaning back against the seat. 

"We've all tried to cut our ties here but it's like something brings us back." Annabeth mumbled. 

"How so?" Reyna asked. 

"Percy and his mom tried to move but the house they were going to buy was sold just before they could officially buy it. I tried living with my dad but it was difficult trying to stay in touch all the way in San Francisco. Thals tried hitch hiking out of here but no one ever comes through here very much and it wasn't like she looked the most friendly. And then you ditched the town. Everyone thought someone had finally succeeded in getting out of here but you're back now." Annabeth glanced over her shoulder at Reyna as if looking for an explanation in the other girl's features. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if Jason came back." Percy chuckled. The conversation came to an end when we rolled into the parking lot and Percy parked in his designated space.

Reyna grabbed he'd bag and thanked Percy for the ride once again before heading quickly inside. Her phone buzzed just as she made it through he front door. 

Thals: You doing soccer try outs before we chill later today? 

Rey: Soccer tryouts are today?! I don't have any shoes.

Thals: You still wear a size eight? 

Rey: Yeah actually. 

Thals: Good because I still have your old gym sneakers. The ones I borrowed on eighth grade. 

Rey: I thought I lost those! 

Thals: Consider this a refund. See you there. 

That was how Reyna became signed up for soccer tryouts whether she had said yes or not she was quite certain Thalia had written her name down anyways. In all honesty Reyna hadn't touched a soccer ball in a long time the mere thought of being so out of practice made her nervous. 

But Thalia pulled trough for her once again when they met at lunch. The other girl held a pair of shoes in one hand and a soccer ball in the other. 

"Who's your favorite person on the planet?" Thalia smiled extending the shoes towards Reyna. 

"I suppose you want me to say you." Reyna smiled lightly taking them with a nod of thanks. Thalia dragged her to her lunch table where only one other person sat. The auburn haired girl Reyna still didn't know the name of. 

Reyna sat down awkwardly at the table and extended her hand. "Thanks for yesterday. You have killer aim." 

"Hmm." The other girl pressed her lips into a thin line and shook Reyna's hand with a firm grip. Reyna couldn't help but notice that the girl's eyes were such a faint get they looked silver. "I'm going to the library." 

With that she stood up and left Thalia and I alone at the table. "Was it something I did?"

Thalia shook her head. "Nah, Arty's not a social person. She used to be but...things change. Her brother on he other hand...."

Thalia gestured to another corner of the outside seating where a blonde boy stood making large theatrical like gestures while a rather large group of people laughed at some stupid joke he most likely made. 

"Anyways. Try the shoes on. See if they fit." Reyna had forgotten that was one of he main reasons why'd met up at lunch. Sure enough they fit like they always had and after a few test jogs Reyna have the thumbs up. "Now the real test." 

Thalia stood and tossed the ball at Reyna's feet. Reyna trapped it with ease and began to dribble around ever so carefully in a small display of footwork. Guess I'm not too rusty. 

Thalia gave her an approving nod catching the ball as Reyna kicked it at her. "Looks like we might have a new co Captain." 

"Who was it before?" Reyna asked sitting down to actually eat since I t was lunch time. 

"The most feared dynamic duo this entire state has ever seen." Thalia smiled her eyes glistening brightly. "The girls with the aim. The stars of the team. Best centers to ever grace this school."

"Okay I get it they're really good." Reyna laughed gesturing for Thalia to actually sit down. "How about you give me some names?"

"No one is allowed to have their jersey numbers it's practically taboo. Number Seven, Artemis, number ten, Zoë." Thalia said proudly. 

"What about you?" Reyna asked. "I read a news article. Thalia Grace the rising midfielder at Half Blood County may be the next one to watch in the upcoming battle for state." 

Thalia shrugged but it was clear her confidence had soared with the mention of this. "Maybe they'll have an article about you soon enough." 

"How about both of us." Reyna laughed as the bell rang. 

"Perhaps." Thalia nodded collecting her things. "See you at try outs."

"I'm gonna kick your ass." Reyna called as Thalia jogged off having to go all the way across campus for her next class. There was no response but Reyna could certainly imagine what Thalia would have said. Shaking her head she made her way to class finding hat her worry was replaced with excitement. It had been so long since she and Thalia had been on a team together. 

It was like their old routine was starting to pick up again. Even in the locker rooms they couldn't help but mess around. As it turned out Annabeth was also trying out, so was a girl named Hazel, and then Rachel who had red vibrant hair. They all seemed to be relatively calm but cool people. 

More importantly they seemed to know one another and Reyna couldn't help but feel like she was the odd one out. Of course there were a bunch of others but they all stood clustered together. 

Reyna had claimed a spot next to Annabeth to change and as the blonde was about to slip on her shirt Reyna took note of a rather harsh looking scar on her shoulder. She recalled that fateful evening at lunch and Thalia's words, I know what you did to Annabeth.

A shiver passed through Reyna's spine and she tore her eyes away not wanting to be rude. 

Thalia in the meantime was lacing up her shoes, legs bouncing with an excited and nervous energy. This is going to be amazing. Just like old times. 

The time finally came for them to meet the coach on the field a tall thin man with impish features and athletic gear adoring his figure form head to toe. 

"Nice to see so many returning faces." He smiled taking a glance at the clipboard before calling off names to see who had shown up and who had chickened out. "The name's coach Hermes. Just start off with a mile warm up and we'll get right to it."

There were many groans about the idea of running but those who seemed to not mind took off at a brisk pace. Reyna got the feeling that for he most part the team consisted of the usual people and no one was expecting much change. 

Thalia could already guess who was going to make the team and being a bit giddy decided to push the pace just to see if any newbies decided to play the game. See if they were good enough to match the pace and still be functional afterwards. 

The usual ones kept up with ease and even held a conversation. Annabeth was venting about a stupid English assignment she got stuck doing with a bunch of idiots. Rachel and Hazel discussed art projects together. As for Reyna, Thalia, and Artemis? The three just ran along quietly not really feeling the need to say anything. 

The rest of tryouts for the first hour consisted of drills just to observe footwork capabilities and Reyna was certain she passed with flying colors. Thalia showed off a bit but it was only because she was bored. The real fun only began when they were allowed to use the whole field and play a skirmish game. 

Annabeth was given the shot at being the other team captain and everyone was divided evenly. As it would turn out the super powers of the teams were divided rather evenly leading to a tied game. That didn't mean it wasn't fun. Sarcastic banter bounced back and forth across the field as the playing went on. 

"You call that a shot Chase?" Rachel joked jogging last wearing the red jersey to signify the opposite team. 

"I call it a ball." Annabeth replied wittily. Rachel just rolled her eyes but it was all fun and games. 

Thalia received the ball on the right side of the field and made a break for the goal only to be met by Reyna who gavehef a smug smirk. "Alright fancy feet what do you have?" 

"I'm hurt that you only came up with fancy feet. I thought I taught you better." Thalia mused sprinting past. Reyna gave a huff of a sigh and went for he ball slide tackling her friend. The two went tumbling on the ground laughing hysterically. "Shit man, I forgot you were good at that." 

"Surprise." Reyna laughed getting to her feet and taking off while Thalia just shook her head. 

After about two and a half hours things finally calmed down as the sun finally began to set in the distance. 

"Nice work everyone cuts will be posted tomorrow. Have a good evening and stay safe." Hermes stressed e last two words and everyone nodded along in understanding. "Good, now go change out." 

"We still hanging out?" Thalia asked as the two walked side by side to where they would inevitably change. 

"Yeah of course." Reyna smiled earning an equally excited grin from Thalia. Three girls ended up walking towards a rather beat up pick up truck that sat three people across if you didn't want to ride in the back. 

"You brought this?" Thalia asked eyeing the car. 

"Apollo took my car." Artemis replied dryly. "I'm used to it by now. Anyways, is Reyna staying the night or just you?"

"Just me." Thalia said. 

"You're staying over?" Reyna asked surprised. Thalia had never been big on staying at other people's houses. 

"It's that or going home." It seemed like an obvious answer but Reyna nodded in understanding. 

"Cool. Then she's the only one who needs a ride home." Artemis glanced at Reyna before unlocking the car. "Sorry for being rude earlier but-"

"It's fine. I don't mind. To be honest it's nicer than how most people treat me let alone look at me." Thalia slid into the middle seat leaving Reyna in the passenger side and Artemis in the driver's seat. 

"This town's not big on saying nice things." Thalia sighed kicking her feet up on the dash board. 

"Yeah. You could say that." Reyna nodded as the engine sputtered to life. The drive was silent but non of them minded much. The windows were rolled down allowing cool air to pass through the car. The stars flowed vibrantly in the sky and Reyna was reminded of the tattoo across Thalia's shoulders and back. 

"So your brother is the polar opposite of you?" Reyna asked breaking the silence at last. 

"That's putting it lightly." Artemis smiled very slightly. 

"It's fine its the same for me." Thalia said tucking an arm behind her head. 

"Not me. My sister is pretty much exactly like me. Just a bit more wild, at least when she was my age." Reyna explained. 

"Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like having a sister." Artemis shrugged. "Then I think that if she had Apollo's personality I'd go insane and realize I might actually be lucky." This caused Reyna and Thalia to laugh but Artemis remained quiet. To Reyna it was nothing unusual, to Thalia it was something she'd grown used to recently. These weren't the sort of times where one laughed very much. 

As the laughter died down it seemed like whatever tension had existed faded and they rose in silence once more. All having different thoughts race through their minds. For Reyna it was the comfort of having friends once again. For Thalia it was how much things had really changed. And for Artemis it was that the car was much more empty than it should be.


	4. Home

The farm house was connected to a long dirt road. The truck left a long trail of dust floating slowly in the air. What none of the girls expected was to arrive at the large wooden house to see its windows alight and flashing with pulsing lights. For music to be pounding against the walls. For people and cars to be parked and crowding the dirt shoulders of the road. 

Artemis' expression shifted into one more blank and harsh than before. The engine was killed by the removal of keys. "Stay here."

Thalia and Reyna didn't refuse as she left the car behind striding quickly towards the front door with fists clenched tight. 

"Apollo is dead." Thalia said shaking her head. 

"Does he always do this?" Reyna asked. 

"Yeah, he does quite a bit." Thalia sighed resting her head against the window and closing her eyes. 

"You okay?" Reyna asked glancing at her with concern. 

"I'm always okay Rey. I just worry about everyone. About them, about Nico." Thalia shook her head. "It's like no one's ever happy anymore." 

"Apollo seems to be okay." Reyna observed spotting the blonde boy in one of the windows. 

"Apollo doesn't know how else to handle himself. He grew up in this atmosphere, almost as much as I did." Thalia knew that the twins lacked a role model, a lot of kids lacked role models. The only parents Thalia could think of who gave any shots about the kids here were Percy's. "Parties, alcohol, it's the norm for him." 

"And her?" Reyna asked. 

Thalia stared out the front window eyes locking onto the stars. "She tries to keep him in check but things are harder now than they were before. For all of us." 

"Since the accidents started happening." Reyna guessed leaning back in her seat. The front door opened and one by one people began to file out, it seemed the party was being broken up. 

"Yeah. Bianca and Nico were closer than you'd think. She was like a mother to him after his died. She grew up too fast and when she tried to go her own way a little rather than tugging along a little brother he took it hard. She still loved him more than anything. After the car accident he never was the same. He's so scared to love anything anymore but he doesn't have it in him to hate. His half sister Hazel means the world to him." Thalia explained picturing the younger pale and skinny boy probably alone tucked inside his room. 

"I know what that's like. I can't remember my mom. I just picture Hylla." Reyna but her bottom lip. 

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing." Thalia smiled thinly. "Percy hasn't been much the same either. He was close with Beckendorf but the kid got caught on a house fire. Perished. Then Annabeth happened. Neither of them will mention what happened but I think it's because they're scared. Because they can't talk about it for fear of worse things happening." 

"Is that how she got the scar on her shoulder?" Reyna asked putting a bit of the pieces together. 

"Yeah. As for Zoë she just vanished. It hurt but not as much as it did for Artemis." Thalia watched a few of the cars pull away from the house and drive back he way they'd come. 

"They were close from how it sounds." Reyna felt a sadness she didn't understand, she felt sad for everyone who'd been an unfortunate victim and for those who were left to bear the consequences. 

"Close? More than that. You hear about teenage romance they were the epitome of that. Completely head over heels. But Zoë had baggage. Things that followed her around. Burdens I don't think any of us fully understood." Reyna noticed that Thalia's eyes seemed to look much older and hold a much deeper sadness. 

"I-"Reyna didn't have any words to express the sadness that settled like a weight on her stomach. 

"Her dad threatened to kick her out of the house for refusing to date the son of a business man he was trying to gain the support of. Not to mention her sisters were ruthless, all except one. The youngest who Zoë absolutely adored. Hey didn't live here. None of them do even now." Thalia watched as the lights dimmed and the music stopped pounding. 

"How'd she get here?" Reyna questioned. 

"He kicked her out once he figured out she wasn't straight. She said 'fuck it' found her way here. Managed to make it on her own for a bit staying where she could. Sometimes she hung out at my place. I think despite having so many friends, despite Artemis, she was lonely." Silence settled over the car for a moment. "She saw an opportunity to get out of here, maybe she took it, or maybe it was something else. I don't really know. I wish I could ask her. I wish we had answers." 

The conversation came to an end as Artemis made her way back to the car. "Everyone's gone you guys can come in if you'd like." 

"Thanks." Reyna smiled following Thalia out. The three made their way inside to find trash and and all sorts of things scattering the floor. Apollo was scrambling about with a trash bag trying to clean it up. 

"Arty you mind helping?" He asked glancing up at her from behind a curtain of blonde hair. 

"I didn't throw the party." She said flatly and headed upstairs with Thalia and Reyna in tow. "Feel free to wash up. Bathroom's on the left." 

"Good I need a shower." Thalia sighed heading towards the bathroom with a spare set of clothes in hand. 

"Yeah I can smell you." Reyna joked earning a middle finger in response. 

"You should tie car freshener around her neck." Artemis joked opening the door to her room. Reyna laughed lightly and took a hesitant step inside. It was well organized, the walls were white, little of it indicated that there were actual inhabitants. 

She took a moment to examine what actually resided in the room and carefully set her gym bag off to the side. Artemis curled up on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

Reyna spotted a small radio system hook up on a shelf over a pristine desk. Books were stacked neatly to one side and pens were sorted by color. There was something however that caught her eye. It was an orange bottle the kind that held medication. The prescription was wrapped around the outside. It of course read the owner's name and time and amount when it should be taken. What surprised her most was for the reason. 

Depression. What was worse, from the looks of it, none had actually been taken. Reyna forced her eyes to look away, it was none of her business. She noticed that there was a box of things that seemed to have collected dust shoved inside the corner of the closet. Reyna couldn't help but wonder what was inside but she wasn't going to snoop. 

"That was quick." Artemis spoke up nearly startling Reyna who turned   
around to see Thalia standing in the doorway, sweatpants and large shirt adorning her frame. Her hair was wet and wild, quite an adorable sight. "While my brother cleans up I guess we can figure something out for dinner." 

"Pizza?" Thalia asked hopefully earning a disinterested shrug. 

"I'll order." Reyna decided feeling a bit awkward like the third wheel in the room. She left then to their own devices and stepped in the hall to place the order. 

"Hey, how may I help you?" The voice on the other end sounded bored but it was recognizable. 

"Nico?" Reyna questioned in surprise. 

"Reyna?" Bewilderment clung to his voice. "I heard you were back, didn't feel like saying hi?"

"Just trying to adjust actually. I talked to Thalia. She said you're doing pretty good." A lie but it isn't my business to press for details on anything that's happened with him. 

"I'm alright. Tell you what. My shift ends soon. Where ya at? I can probably bring some food over." God still such a sweetheart after all this time. 

"I'm at the farm on the outskirts of town with Thalia, Artemis, and Apollo." Nick made some sort of noise on the other end of the line. 

"See you in fifteen." And that was how the call ended. It was in fact exactly fifteen minutes until Nico arrived with a bike whose basket was loaded with left over pizza. 

"What a God." Thalia smiled opening the front door to take off his hat and ruffled his hair. His eyes softened slightly. "Feel free to join us. We're eating in the barn because this place is a mess and smells like weed." 

Nico sniffed the air and scrunched up his nose. "Probably a good idea." 

The group shuffled out alone the dirt path and back behind the house where a large red wooden barn waited. Inside was a single horse of a chestnut brown color, a cow, and a chicken or two. Nothing much. 

Hay bales were stacked off to the sides and buckets were turned over to act as seats. The pizza was set in the center and Thalia took it upon herself to wear a bucket on her head. 

"How have you guys been?" Nico asked grabbing the smallest slice he could find. 

"The usual." Artemis shrugged. 

"Not bad." Reyna and Thalia smiled having spoken in unison. 

"That's nice to hear." Nico pressed his lips into a thin line. "How's your sister?"

"She's okay. Tired. I hardly see her she's working so much." It was the first time since Reyna had come back that Thalia had really seen her friend's demeanor shift. "It's lonely at home." 

"What about you?" Nico glanced at Artemis. "Apollo isn't too crazy?" 

"He's the same as always. Partying whenever he has the chance and in stuck with the clean up. He won't clean everything by the time he crashes for the night. I'm used to it though, I've been doing it for years." Artemis hadn't touched any of the food and though it was clear they all noticed no one said anything. 

"Thals?" Nico asked noticing that Thalia had checked out of the conversation and was checking her phone. She got to her feet and headed to a corner of the room answering a call. 

"What about you?" Reyna asked drawing Nico's attention. 

"I've been okay. Working on getting a car." Nico smiled slightly at the idea of it. "Hazel seems to be doing alright at school which is good." 

There was a loud bang that came from the corner. Everyone turned to see that Thalia had kicked over a bucket. Whatever it was she was clearly distressed. "Thanks Percy I'll be there as fast as I can the fucker-god." 

"What's wrong?" Reyna asked getting to her feet but Thalia didn't answer as she tore outside at a full blown sprint and ran for the road booking it as fast as she could. 

"Oh great." Nico sighed as they all stood heading to see what was going on. 

Thalia's heart pounded in urgency, Percy better have been mistaken or someone was going to get killed and she meant it. It wasn't too far of a run maybe two or three miles. She could do it. Lungs aching and legs burning James pressed forward not waiting o see if any of the others had followed her. 

Please be wrong, please god be wrong. The anxiety that coursed through her system made it increasingly difficult to breathe. She could see the lights of her house not too far ahead and though exhaustion gripped her she made it to the driveway. 

No,no,no. There was a car in the driveway that she hardly recognized. It had slammed into her motorcycle and pinned it against the house which now had destroyed stucco littering the driveway. There was Percy at the bottom of the driveway where he'd noticed the problem on his walk. 

Thalia didn't hesitate to run past him and inside the house. The lights were on and there was a man she had only met once before sitting at her table with a glass full of some disgustingly cheap wine clearly intoxicated beyond belief. 

"You asshole. You son of a bitch!" Thalia yelled. "Do you have any idea what you just did? Get the fuck out of my house!"

The man straightened slightly and glared up at her from where he sat with bloodshot eyes. "Beryl the-hic...runt is talkin'"

His voice was gruff and slurred from the impairment of his chosen beverage. "Don't talk to my mother. Get. Out."

"It's just a bike. Don't be a bitch." He growled swallowing the remnants of his drink. Thalia grabbed the closest thing she could find which happened to be the man's car keys and chucked them as hard as she could. They clattered onto the table sending the wine bottle toppling to the floor where it shattered. 

"Get out!" She was beyond furious. Her hands shook and her vision tunneled. 

Only the man was angry now too. He stood the chair scraping against the floor. Despite the large beer belly he was big, like a bear. "Don't you mess with me little girl. I ain't down nothing to you. Now pick that up."

He gestured to the glass on the ground and the puddle of liquid that was now staining the tile. Thalia didn't move an inch. 

"I said, PICK IT UP!" By now Percy had hesitantly made his way inside and his eyes widened at the situation. 

"No one tells me what to do." Thalia spat. The man slammed his hand down on the table causing a plate to clatter to he ground. It was all Thalia needed to lunge forward with the vengeance of a thousand suns. If it had not been for Percy there would have been blood mixing with the wine.  

"I'll kill you I swear to god. You swine." Thalia thrashed desperately trying to get free. Just a bike?! Just a bike?! She'd worked long painstaking hours for that thing, just to have some small sense of freedom and now it was destroyed along with part of her house because of one of her mother's drunken friends. 

Percy dragged her outside as she continued to thrash but the thrashing soon died down and it turned into crying. 

"Come on. Come on." He was practically tugging her towards the road where a familiar truck was now pulling up. 

"What happened?" Reyna demanded. 

"I'll kill him." Thalia sobbed. Percy stumbled sending them both to the ground and all he could do was keep a hold of her for fear that she'd run back inside and really kill the man. 

"Easy. Easy." He whispered trying to calm her. "Neeks. Call the cops. Rey, try and block in the driveway. This guy isn't getting away with this." 

The group of three teenagers consisting of Nico, Thalia, and Artemis snapped into action. "I hate his place. I hate this." 

Percy swallowed hard. He knew perfectly well what this was like. "I know Thalia. I know." 

What hurt Percy the most were the next words that forced their way out between sobs. Something that was so bitter and ironic. Thalia had never had this, and yet she yearned endlessly for it. She was asking for something that didn't exist. 

"I want to go home."


	5. Mystery

Thalia didn't go to school the next day. It made for a lonely day, one Reyna wasn't looking forward too. The man who'd driven drunk was arrested but there was no erasing what actually happened. In truth Reyna felt horribly sorry. We're things this bad after I left? How could I just leave her here like this? 

Only Reyna was easily reminded as to why she left. Why she was so eager to escape this place. 

"Can't believe the psycho's daughter is back." 

"Did you hear her sister is a fucking waitress and works some other low job. Like she can at least do better than that."

"Yeah I know. Johnny went to the restaurant last night. Said the service was complete crap. Bet the girl can hardly carry a tray." 

And so on went the whispers that made Reyna's blood boil. What was worse however were the rumors surrounding the disappearance of Silena. People had made up numerous things. That she staged the accident and ran away cause she was the reason Charles director in the fire. 

"I swear she killed him. A girl that pretty had to be psycho." Or better yet, "She just looked like she could do something like that." 

How would they know? None of theses idiots even know. I sure as hell don't but I'm not saying stupid things like that. The insensitivity only grew worse. Reyna hadn't heard or paid attention much to the conversations that floated around campus and she was suddenly wishing she still wasn't paying attention. 

"Bianca was just a wild child. I'd be the same after having to raise a brother." An honorable thing most people wouldn't do. Reyna couldn't help but respond softly in her head. 

"Her dad is some sleeve ball. You see the creep? He looks like the type who drives a big old white van and kidnaps kids. Bet hats how he got Hazel. Just stole a black kid off the streets." Laughter like the sound of wild dogs. It only got worse at lunch. The gossip would reach a loud rumble. It was nearly overwhelming. Reyna attempted to distance herself from the mayhem to try and focus on things that actually mattered but it was useless. 

A boy and girl next to her were watching Artemis weave her way through people towards her brother with a perpetually bored expression. As if life no longer held anything interesting. 

"Can't believe she freaked out on Orion last year." The boy shook his head as if he were a disappointed parent. 

"Are you kidding? Anyone would literally die trying to get laid by Orion. The man is a hot beast." The girl smiled earning a slightly annoyed look from the guy. 

Reyna attempted to glance over her math homework from earlier on the morning but the words vibrated in her skull like angry flies. 

"Apparently not everyone. You know if she just let it happen I bet she'd have liked it." The guy smirked. Reyna's hands shook slightly at the remarks. 

"But no, the whole lesbian thing is just a joke. She's like the straightest person I've ever seen." That was it. Reyna was done. 

"You two idiots have absolutely no idea what you're even talking about. Stop criticizing someone who you don't know. People have a right to say no to things without it being frowned on by society. And as far as sexuality goes clearly you don't find a human being's worth by their personality or they're treatment of others. " The two unfortunate victims of Reyna's wrath gave her appalled expressions but she had yet to finish. "Lastly the people here who spread rumors about what's going on with the tragic events need to stop. We need to respect those who've been hurt by these things rather than pointing fingers and making things up. You're just a bunch of affluent kids who think you can do and say what you want but you can't. As for my sister piss off! She's the most amazing person you will ever meet and you have no right, any of you, to insult her as a person." 

By this point Reyna's heart was pounding curiously and her pulse rushed like a river. 

"Guess crazy runs in the family." The boy grabbed the girl's hand and the two stepped away like they were avoiding a piece of garbage. Reyna snatched up her bag and started for he bathroom. That was it, she needed to cool off, ignore everyone. They could say whatever they wanted about her by not people they didn't know. Especially when they didn't know the struggles they faced. 

Kicking the door open it slammed hard against he will as Reyna threw her bag on the counter. "Those idiots! I can't believe them." 

She groaned in frustration tugging lightly at her hair and pacing in an attempt to get her rage out. Slowly she calmed until it was just shallow breathing hah remained. 

Pulling out her phone Reyna hesitated before typing. 

Rey: I want out of this school now before I hit someone 

Thals: Sorry I wasn't there 

Rey: It's bit your fault, people are just...

Thals: I know. Stop by my place after school. I need the company. It's lonely and...

Rey: You're still upset. I know. I'll be there and maybe bring a movie. We can watch it if you aren't busy. 

Thals: I wouldn't mind, I need a distraction. 

Rey: See you then 

Sighing she slipped the phone back into her pocket and grudgingly returned to he outside cafeteria. All she had to do was survive two more class periods. 

Thalia was out on the drive way in the hot sun despite the cool fall breeze trying to fix the damage from last night's events. She was still raging in the inside but her exterior was surprisingly calm. 

Tools were scattered nearby and she was currently trying to really the stucco. Of course hiring someone would be easier but when your family's funds were spent on alcohol you couldn't really afford it. 

The substance that had yet to set decorated her arms and her hair stuck up wildly from sweat. In the mean time she tried to fix the grass on the front lawn where truck tire marks had torn through the dirt. 

She'd tried to salvage as much of it as she could but for the most part Thalia was stuck walking to the nearest store, buying a large bag of soil, walking back, and filling the trenches in the yard. 

After soaking the lawn with water to aid in the blending of new and old soul she returned to the outside wall and painted it though the colors didn't match exactly it didn't matter. 

"Man you got a lot done today." Thalia turned to see Reyna standing at the end of the driveway with her back pack in hand. 

"Well I can't miss school another day." Thalia sighed standing up slowly. Her entire body ached from the long day of work. She'd collected her broken motorcycle, took it apart as best as she could, managed to sell the good parts and scrap the damaged ones. Fix the rivets in the driveway with a cheap concrete mix and fix the house. 

"I know." Reyna observed her friend's appearance. Dark circles clung to the undersides of her eyes indicating that Thalia hadn't slept much last night. "Let's go inside." 

Thalia nodded standing up and taking a moment to collect her things and put them up before leading Reyna in through the garage. Like usual the house was empty. 

It was even messier than before if it was possible. Reyna didn't pay much attention to it. "You should get cleaned up." 

"Why, you think I smell?" Thalia asked attempting to make a joke. Reyna rolled her eyes and Thalia took the hint that it was simply a concern for her well being. Thalia conceded the point and cleaned up. The warmth of the water was relaxing enough but the clean clothes were the best part. 

Digging through her closet for some comfortable socks stuck in a bin somewhere Thalia stumbled across something she hadn't seen in ages. "Huh." 

Stopping down she picked it up and dusted off the small box. Easing the lid off she stumbled across old photos. Ones that went farther back than the oldest one on her wall. "Rey come here!" 

Reyna didn't hesitate to find her way to Thalia's room to find the other girl sitting on her bed, back pressed back against the wall, holding a bundle of what looked to be photos. 

"Look at these with me. They're soooo old." Thalia laughed examining the first one. 

"Let me see." Reyna smiled making her way over, dropping her bag, and sitting next to Thalia. The first picture was completely laughable. It was both of them young, buck naked, running through sprinklers with Jason trying to sit on one in the back. 

Thought Thalia was nearly a year and a half older than Reyna they were nearly identical in age just by looking at them. They'd ended up in the same school year partially due to Thalia's birthday and the fact that she was held back in second grade. 

"Look at you pale butt." Reyna laughed. 

"Why the hell is Jason trying to sit on that?" Thalia asked with a small smile. She set it aside and revealed the next one. It was the three of them dressed up as super heroes running round Reyna's house. 

Thalia had drawn lightning bolts on the side of her head to be the flash. Reyna recalled drawing the superman symbol on Jason's bare chest while she wore blue underwear outside of her pants and used a jump rope to be Wonder Woman. 

"Oh my god that's embarrassing." Reyna winced unable to believe that she'd ever actually done something like that. Thalia laughed lightly moving in to the next one. 

This time they were a bit older. Maybe eight or nine. It had been Valentine's day at school and naturally everyone had worn Valentine's Day clothes. Not Thalia. She'd stolen a white shirt from Jason and wrote COOTIES on it. 

"Stupid thing is you couldn't figure out why you didn't get any Valentine's." Reyna snickered. She of course had at least worn a red shirt. 

"I got four. One from Jase, Mom, Hylla, and you." Thalia remembered. "You made sure yours was the biggest." 

"I felt bad." Reyna admitted. "I was making up for your disappointment." 

"Thanks for that." Thalia sighed resting her head back against the wall. "You know sometimes I wish I could just go back to those moments. The ones in the pictures and stay there." 

Reyna glanced at the next one. They were wearing ugly Christmas sweaters standing with their arms around one another with happy smiles from lost teeth. Maybe they were in fourth grade or so. "Yeah, me too." 

"I never wanted this." Thalia gestured with her arms to everything. "I don't think anyone does."

"When you're a kid you don't think things like this happen. You just believe it will be exactly like the stories you're told." Reyna nodded. 

"Adults lie to you from the start. This isn't some fairy tail." Thalia sighed swallowing hard. "You know how hard it was trying to act like I didn't care you left?" 

"No." Reyna admitted feeling her shoulders slump slightly. 

"To act like I was okay when Jason left too. What's better is the fact that he has a girlfriend now." This bit of information jolted Reyna's thoughts. 

"What?" Thalia have her a sympathetic look. 

"I know you guys had a rough break up." It was an understatement. Reyna had felt completely inadequate during that entire situation. She could recall the conversation perfectly. It had been a massive blow to her self confidence. 

"Is it the same girl he said he liked?" Reyna asked. 

"Yeah." Thalia's eyes held a deep apology.

"Hmm." Reyna nodded. "I bet she's pretty cool."

"You're not mad at her or something?" Thalia asked her eyebrows creasing together. 

"Not her. It's not her fault. I can't say I necessarily forgive your brother for what happened." Thalia had expected that much. 

"You never really told me what happened." Thalia said collecting the pictures and putting them away. 

Reyna snorted. "I'm not going to ruin your opinion of your brother." 

"Reyna, believe me I know my brother can be an ass." A bit of silence passed between them before Reyna sighed. 

"It was on the weekend. Maybe two months before he left and three before I did. We'd been hanging out at the old park for old time's sake. Messing around and I thought things were fine but they obviously weren't." Thalia leaned back onto the pillows of her bed and closed her eyes listening closely. "I can't quiet remember how the subject was brought up. But he said it wasn't working. That there was a disconnect. He felt like I wasn't really trying to make it work, that maybe I was holding back which wasn't fair because he was such an open book. Like I was too guarded and cold. He said maybe space would help. That I needed to think about what I wanted." 

"But he didn't acknowledge that maybe he was part of the problem too?" Thalia asked eyes opening to study Reyna. 

"I mean he didn't need to. He was right, it just didn't feel like what people describe being in a relationship is like. But I felt that maybe he was being unfair. It wasn't like I'd ever dated anyone before. It was new and I was naive. I think more than anything he just impressed me. To an extent, looking back on it, I think from the start he was looking for a way out." Reyna shook her head in dismay. 

"That's stupid. A dock move you don't just date someone because you don't want to hurt their feelings. Breaking up is going to crush someone more than just saying no." Thalia's voice had a harsh edge to it. 

"Yeah well apparently saying no is considered a bad thing in today's society." Reyna thought back to the earlier conversation she had over heard. 

"Maybe. If it makes you feel better, you have one Grace on your side. I'm glad you're back. It just feels normal. Like things aren't as horrible." Thalia sat up at last to observe her friend. "It's a little less sucky. For all of us." 

"Are you still going to try and find out what happened to your friends?" Reyna asked thinking back to all the rumors. 

"If I can." Thalia nodded determination in her eyes. Reyna got the notion that she'd heard plenty of the made up stories and wanted to set things right. 

Reyna thought for a second before pulling out her phone and scrolling through the news. "What do you say we go check out the crime scene?"

"For what?" Thalia asked confused. 

"The car that belonged to Silena. What's  left of it. It's dark, no ones gonna know. We just can't touch anything." Thalia's eyes lit up with a burning curiosity and Reyna knew she had her hooked. 

"My,my, Reyna you know the way to a girl's heart." Thalia smirked standing up. "Nothing like a detective hunt." 

"Shut up and change." Reyna laughed. "We have a mystery to solve."


	6. Football Game

Try outs for soccer had resulted in an extremely talented team and the first game wasn't too far off but there was one problem. Homecoming. Everyone was obsessed with going and it was overall a distraction for the entire team that wasn't needed. At least to Thalia it was. 

The football game was that Friday evening. Nearly everyone was going. All throughout the school day boys and girls would ask each other to either the game or Homecoming. 

"Any of you guys going?" Percy had asked at lunch walking over to the table where Thalia, Reyna, Artemis, and surprisingly Apollo sat. 

"Hell yeah." Apollo smiled brightly never one to turn down a popular occasion. 

"Hell no." Was Thalia's quick reply. 

"Agreed." Reyna laughed. 

"How come? You went last year." Percy frowned looking pointedly at Thalia. 

"That was the worst mistake of my life. We don't talk about that." Reyna was surprised by the intensity in Thalia's voice. 

"Right, sorry. I'm not trying to dig up the past. Just curious." Percy smiled slightly. 

"Are you taking Annabeth?" Reyna asked shifting topics. 

"Yes, of course." Percy smiled brightly at this. "Don't worry I'll take care of her ."

"You better." Thalia warned with a glare. Percy said goodbye and went to sit back down at his usual table. 

"You guys are such drags. Just have a good time for once. Homecoming isn't even that bad." Apollo rolled his eyes and picked at his food. 

"Are you kidding me? There is nothing flattering about a mosh pit of girls and guys grinding on each other in short kinky dresses and sweaty tuxes ." Artemis scoffed. 

"That's exactly the fun." Apollo countered. 

"Uh no that doesn't sound fun at all. That sounds like an easy way for something to go wrong." Reyna frowned. "Besides people don't exactly ask permission before they touch you in those situations. I'd probably smack the life out of some poor soul if they touched me at all." 

"That I would love to see." Thalia laughed her eyes nearly squinting shut. 

"You're all just sticks in the mud." Apollo pointed a plastic fork at Reyna. "I'd take you. Not you, you scare me." 

Apollo gestured at Thalia who smirked. "Good."

"Now to hook Arty up with a date." Apollo sighed scanning the lunch area. 

"I'm not going. I'm staying home and sleeping." She argued glaring at her brother. 

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Thalia sighed, already wanting to go home and crash on the couch. 

"At least go to the football game." Apollo smiled pleadingly. 

"And watch a bunch of sweaty guys with ego problems hit each other just so our team can lose? No thanks." Artemis shook her head. 

"What about you? Your brother played football." Apollo looked expectantly at Thalia who'd zoned out a while ago and was watching some kids mess around.,

"Hm? Oh yeah, no thanks. I don't like people." Apollo groaned and looked as though he were about to have a tantrum. 

"I told Frank I'd go so I kind of have to." Reyna sighed. 

"Great. You can go with me then." Apollo smiled. 

"You know ,brother, it sounds like you're just scared of going to these things by yourself. Want me to hold your hand?" Artemis asked a teasing glint in her eyes. Apollo blushed faintly and scoffed in response. 

"Just think about going." He replied after a moment as the lunch bell rang signaling the start of their next classes. 

Thalia collected her things and scurried off having a tendency to be late. Reyna took her time mulling over the idea of going to the football game after all. School passed slowly like usual until both Thalia and Reyna were walking to the Grace household. 

"I think I'll go to the game just because Frank would love the support." Reyna decided after careful deliberation. 

"Yeah, I guess I'll go too. I haven't been to a game in ages. Maybe we'll win for once." Thalia shrugged. 

"Do they typically lose? They used to be really good." Reyna frowned thinking back to the County's huge football reputation. 

"We lost a lot of good players." Thalia explained. "Still maybe I'm not giving them enough credit. Anyways I have homework to work on."

"Do you still need help with Spanish?" Reyna asked as they neared the driveway. 

"Do I? Yes! I suck at Spanish it's my third year taking level 1-2." Thalia groaned. The mere thought of having to take Spanish as a class made her want to throw up. "Learning Spanish is not concussive to dyslexia."

"Well lucky for you I'm here." Reyna smiled following her friend inside. 

"Alright what do you want to snack on? In hungry so I bet you are too." Thalia tossed her bag off to the side by the door. 

"Um I don't need anything in particular." Reyna shrugged gently setting her bag on the couch. Thalia nodded and headed to the kitchen while Reyna pulled out her binder. She wasn't looking forward to homework but it needed to be done. 

Thalia returned with an assortment of things, in other words, her arms were full of goldfish bags, pretzels, gummy bears, and pop tarts. 

"I see your diet hasn't improved." Reyna mused. 

"I am a growing girl I need my food." Thalia argued setting the stash down on the small coffee table. The two girls spent the evening studying and had developed a system. Every time Thalia got a Spanish term right Reyna let her have a bit of whatever snack she wanted. 

Thalia got nearly all of the questions right much to her own amazement. Reyna just laughed the entire time and corrected her when she needed to. 

"Not too shabby." Reyna smiled as Thalia triumphantly tucked the assignment back into her back pack. 

"Your are amazing." Thalia smiled rubbing a hand through her hair before glancing at the clock. She hadn't realized how late it actually was. "Oh shit we gotta go or we're gonna miss the game." 

Reyna was surprised to see but how much time had really passed. She followed Thalia into the garage where the punk girl was looking for something. At last she tossed Reyna a helmet and pulled something out of a corner of the room. "You still know how to ride a skateboard?" 

"Of course." Reyna nodded. 

"Good because I kept yours." Thalia smile holding up to waving worn skate boards. Once again Reyna was surprised that Thalia had been so sentimental. Reyna took the old board in her hands and soon they were standing out on the street. Thalia sighed happily. "Alright Ramirez let's ride." 

The two expertly navigated the streetways just like old times. Coasting down the sidewalk or bike lane to where the school rested. Already the lights were on shining down on the football field. The parking lot was full for once and the stands were full of students from their school and the team who was pitted against them. 

Thalia couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of wind tousling her hair and the smile on her face said it all. Reyna zig zagged through the parking lot heading towards the entrance to pay when Thalia called out to her. 

"Over here Rey." The other girl curiously rolled to where her friend had beckoned her. "There's a way to slip in unnoticed." 

Reyna didn't seem like e type of person to break rules but the mischievous glint in her eyes told Thalia that concept was entirely wrong. 

Thalia tucked their skateboards out of sight before guiding Reyna behind the bleachers where a section of the fence was bent at the bottom. She slipped under with ease and Reyna was quick to follow. 

"They're gonna think some funny shit is happening if we come out from behind here." Reyna glanced about wondering if any of the faculty had seen them. 

"That's why we climb up." Thalia smirked heading to the nearest set of cross beams. She didn't hesitate to start climbing. Reyna noticed the higher se got the shakier her movements were. 

"She's still insanely brace for someone afraid of heights." Reyna clambered up after her friend not wanting to be left behind until the both crawled rather unceremoniously through the gap in the bleachers so they were in the upper row. 

Of course it earned them odd looks but the view was great. Thalia smiled smugly and tucked her hands in her pockets. 

"Nice work." Reyna smiled nudging Thalia slightly. 

"Thanks." Thalia's sideways glance caught the light from the stadium lights and Reyna realized just how blue the girl's eyes were. Shaking her head she turned to study what was taking place on the field. 

Frank had a great game. He tackled with ease and made sure no one managed to get in the pocket. He even recovered a fumble. Of course Reyna yelled as loudly as possible whether Frank could hear her or not. Thalia just laughed and watched quietly more of an observer than a yeller. 

They clutched the win by one field goal courtesy of the kicker, it did help that Frank had blocked a field goal earlier. In all seriousness Thalia was certain the love able giant would get a scholar ship to college. 

The stands cleared out towards the end of the game as friends and family went to congratulate the players and celebrate the hard earned success. 

"That wasn't so bad." Thalia admitted a light breeze wafting through the empty stands. 

"Yeah." Reyna agreed her voice the slightest bit raspy from yelling. 

"We should go." Thalia spoke softly but she remained rooted to the spot. 

"You alright?" Reyna asked touching her arm softly. 

"Yeah. It's just you never realize how lonely things are until you stand in an empty stadium staring at a blank field at night." Reyna glanced about realizing for the first time that things had cleared out rather quickly, Thalia was right, it seemed wrong for it to be so quiet. 

"Yeah." Reyna breathed crossing her arms. 

"I think I remember why I hate football games now ." Thalia shook her head and padded lightly down the steps. Reyna paused a moment before following. They collected their things and began to glide slowly down the faintly lit roads. 

"You heading back to your place once you get your bag?" Thalia asked glancing at Reyna as they skidded to a halt at a street light. 

"If I can stay over I'd love to." Reyna shrugged. "If not it doesn't matter too much to me to walk home." 

"Alright." Thalia smiled. "We can play those stupid games we used to when we were kids." 

"Yeah the ones where we stayed up until midnight laughing." Reyna chuckled shaking her head. "Man that feels like ages ago."

"That's because it was ages ago." Thalia snickered. 

"Don't get smart with me." Reyna joked shoving Thalia lightly as they turned down Thalia's street. 

"Hey if you knock me off of this board you're coming down with me." Thalia threatened wobbling slightly her balance shifting. 

"Oh yeah?" Reyna asked easing an eyebrow. She made a move to nudge Thalia again but the other girl was ready for her this time. Thalia however leaned to far forward slipping off of her skateboard and crashing into Reyna. The two went tumbling onto the lawn laughing hysterically. "You suck."

"Oh shut up." Thalia rolled her eyes scrambling to her feet and heading for the front door. Reyna darted after her the two wrestling to head inside. Thalia stumbled through the door first with Reyna practically on top of her. 

Thalia froze confusion slipping over her as she noticed the tv was on which was odd because her mom was never home this early. Fumbling for the lights she flicked them on. "Holy shit...Jason? When did you get here? What are you even doing here?"

Jason was sitting on the couch curled up under a blanket. "Didn't you get my texts? I told you earlier this evening." 

"No I-my phone was off. And I was at the game. Frank was playing." Thalia stammered in surprise. 

Jason wore a look of surprise as well. "Reyna. I thought you-"

"I'm back." Was her curt reply. If things weren't already awkward it was about to get a whole lot worse. Someone Thalia recognized walked in from the kitchen wearing plaid pajamas and holding a bottle of water. 

"Piper." Thalia nodded earning a bright smile in response. 

"Cool Grace how are you?" She asked. 

"Piper?" Reyna asked her eyebrows creasing together.

"Yeah." Jason nodded earning a confused look from Piper. "Reyna."

The blonde gestured to his former friend. Piper nodded in recognition. "Piper."

"Reyna." Reyna stated. 

"Thalia." Jason gave her an odd look as if he wanted her to do something. 

"Jason." Thalia replied sarcastically before grabbing Reyna's wrist. "Just going to bed. Night."

Before Reyna could ask anymore questions Thalia was dragging her down the hall and into her room shutting the door behind her. "I am so sorry I was not expecting that."

"It's fine." Reyna replied. 

"No really. I'm sorry." Thalia apologized deeply. 

"I know. It's okay. It doesn't matter I'm tired." Reyna lied. Thalia nodded no dug around in her dresser tossing Reyna some clothes to change into. When both girls had tossed their dirty clothes into a pile they each claimed their own side of Thalia's bed like when they were younger. 

"I really am sorry." Thalia whispered. 

"Stop apologizing it's not your fault." Reyna laughed lightly. "Just go to sleep Grace." 

"Right. Good night Rey." Thalia reached over and turned her bedside lamp off before curling up into a ball and closing her eyes. 

"Night Thals." Reyna sighed. She had a hard time falling asleep hay night.


	7. Confession

Reyna woke to thin rays of light streaming through the window. It took her a moment to recognize where she was but more importantly there was a figure standing in the doorway. Blinking sleep from her eyes she noticed it was Piper. 

"Jason says he made breakfast. Just thought you should know." Piper shifted awkwardly her eyes observing the situation with a keen intensity. Reyna didn't realize why at first until she registered the form clinging to her own. 

Thalia had her legs tangled with hers, the sheets askew, with her head resting lightly on Reyna's shoulder while Reyna's hand had settled on the slight curve of her waist. 

"No need to hurry. Take your time." Piper's slight surprise turned into an amused expression. Reyna said nothing as the girl headed down the hall. She knew plenty well that rushing Thalia awake was a horrible idea. The girl could turn into a grizzly bear. For instance the time they'd had a sleepover and Jason woke her up early. Little Reyna was pretty sure she had a grizzly bear for a friend. 

Instead Reyna sighed and closed her eyes again relaxing in the slight warmth of morning light. Thalia stirred slightly and Reyna knew it wouldn't be long until she was awake as well. She absentmindedly played with the tousled strands of Thalia's hair. She remembered when it was longer, not by much, and she used to make ridiculous hairstyles with it. Thalia had always loved it when people played with her hair, she was very much like a cat in that regard. 

"Is it morning?" Thalia groaned her voice raspy from sleep. Reyna laughed and opened her eyes to study her friend who'd only now started disentangling their limbs. 

"Yes the sun's up." Reyna pointed out. Thalia nodded and stood stretching her arms above her head. 

"You can borrow some clothes again if you want." She offered already looking through her closet. "Here you'd look killer in this."

Thalia tossed her a tattered pair of jeans a black plaid shirt and grey jacket. Reyna didn't argue and began to pull the clothes on after discarding the already borrowed night shirt. She did in fact look better than she would have guessed but it was different from her normal attire. 

"You can head to breakfast I'll be out in a bit I have to tame my hair." Thalia sighed heading to the bathroom. 

"Alright." Reyna hesitantly left the room behind and made her way to the kitchen where a quiet and awkward breakfast was taking place with hushed whispers. It grew quiet when Reyna stepped into view and three sets of eyes settled on her. "Um...morning."

"Hey." Piper smiled being the first to recover from the sudden silence. Reyna was surprised to see Jason sitting next to his mother but more surprised that she seemed to be in a normal state for once. 

Reyna grudgingly took the seat next to Piper and folded her hands in her lap. She didn't move or reach for any of the food. The silence continued on far longer than it needed to. Thalia saved the day when she appeared from the hallway. 

Reyna paused for a moment to study her. She wore black boots like always. Her legs were covered by black fish net tights with a pair of black shorts settled over them. A band tank top graced her torso. Reyna had never heard of them before, it read Harpies. 

"Hold the talk guys I know I'm important." Thalia replied sarcastically taking a seat next to Reyna and reaching for the food. "You not hungry Rey?"

"Oh no I'm fine." Reyna smiled thinly. Jason cleared his throat from where he sat. Thalia turned her head slightly in his direction. 

"You know I hate it when you do that if you want to talk just talk." Thalia sighed leaning back in her seat to look at Jason. 

"I don't necessarily want to bring this up but I'm leaving soon so I figured I should address it now." The tension only grew with that statement. Reyna noticed Thalia's leg bouncing rapidly beneath the table. "I'm concerned about you."

The statement was so sudden Piper dropped her fork in surprise and bashfully picked it up. 

"Um....okay. Why?" Thalia asked a frown clouding her features. 

"Your grades are terrible." Jason said bluntly. "You're close to being suspended again for poor behavior in class with other students."

Thalia's shoulders stiffened. "Okay we are not having this conversation I just wanted a fucking pancake."

"Thalia. Listen." It was the first time Reyna had heard Beryl Grace utter a single word since the time she'd been back in town. Her voice was very quiet, hardly more than a whisper, timid but raspy. 

Thalia's jaw was set and a muscle in her cheek twitched. Piper pretended to be looking at an interesting spot on the table. Reyna couldn't blame her. It felt like they shouldn't be there. 

"You have to fix whatever is going on. If it means that you refrain from socializing as much then so be it. I think it would be a wise decision if you stayed away from the twins-" Jason was cut off by Thalia's palm smacking loudly against the table as she stood. 

"Jason I love you dearly but please stop talking you don't know anything that's going on right now and acting like you do is only making me mad." It was a fair statement. She didn't sound angry, just a deadly calm. Reyna figured he'd keep quiet but she knew Jason was stubborn. 

"I know you've lost friends and if you need someone to talk to then by all means go ahead there's no shame in it."  Piper shot a nervous glance in Jason's direction. 

"I'm afraid Jason that she's made it quiet clear this conversation is over." Reyna couldn't help but speak with an icy tone. She knew first hand what it was like when he chose not to listen. 

Jason's eyes narrowed and his gaze locked onto Reyna. "I don't think you're part of this conversation at the moment."

"Jason." Piper warned but it was pointless. 

"Don't talk to her like that." Thalia frowned. "Just because you dumped her doesn't mean you get to walk all over her. And second of all you're right I have lost friends. You tell me what it's like when people you know get killed and vanish. I dare you to tell Nico or Artemis or Percy to get over it. The only reason you're telling me is because I'm your sister."

"That's exactly it. You're my sister and my responsibility." He nodded. 

"I'm not your responsibility I'm her responsibility." Thalia gestured irritatedly at her mother who'd been watching in a meek silence.   "We all know how well of a job she does."

"Thalia." Jason's voice was as firm as steel. "Be careful with what you say."

"No you listen here. You haven't been here for shit Jason. Stop acting like you know everything." With that Thalia shoved her chair over and walked off from the table. Reyna watched as she grabbed her jacket by the door and stormed outside. 

"You really aren't good at listening." Reyna said shaking her head. 

"Like you would know." Jason frowned looking offended. 

"I would know." Reyna retorted. "You never let me explain myself to you. Whether it was when we disagreed, it you thought I wasn't exactly invested in the attempted relationship." 

"You're not pinning this on me." Jason argued. 

Reyna's attention turned to Piper. "Good luck with this dip shit. He's your responsibility now. You're pretty and seem smart. No hard feelings." 

Reyna was the next to leave heading outside into the nippy air. She didn't see Thalia at first before heading down the driveway and spotting the girl making her way down the street at an angry pace. 

Reyna didn't quite know where Thalia was going but she seemed to be on a mission. The front door opened and Reyna spotted Jason step outside following her gaze. 

"She's done this before she'll be back." He shrugged despite the fact that Thalia was now out of sight. 

"Done what?" Reyna asked fixing him with a glare. 

"Run away for the evening." He replied.  The response set Reyna's nerves on edge. Thalia couldn't disappear for the day on her own, not with the crazy stuff happening. 

Reyna said nothing to Jason as she took off at a run. Feet pounding against the sidewalk as she sprinted down the street following Thalia's path. Turning the corner sharply Reyna ran on arms pumping. 

She stumbled across a vacant park in the faint morning light. Thalia was sitting on the roof of the play house tossing rocks at birds on the ground looking for a free meal. 

Panting Reyna paused just at the base of the play set. "You know you're not going to be able to get down from there because you'll be scared."

Thalia snapped out of whatever daze she was in and peered over the side. She opened her mouth to protest but when her cheeks paled Reyna knew she was right. 

Reyna collected herself for a moment and clambered up the side with ease before she sat on the edge next to Thalia. 

"Sometimes he makes me so angry." Thalia sighed tucking her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. 

"I know what you mean but he hasn't been here he's not going to understand anything if you don't explain it." Reyna leaned back on her elbows still sapped from her almost two mile sprint. 

"The less people who know about everything the better. You said so yourself. It's just between us. The last thing I need is something to happen to him." Reyna couldn't quiet understand how Thalia was so desperate to protect her brother when he could be so infuriating.

"What's been going on in class? You're gonna get suspended if you have another infraction?" Reyna questioned gently. Jason had made good points, it was important to know about these things, but when someone said they didn't want to talk you need to listen. 

"I hate everyone Reyna. So many damn people." Thalia glowered staring angrily at a pigeon. 

"I know how that feels." Reyna sighed. 

"Yeah. Well..." Thalia swallowed hard trying to collect her crazy thoughts. "Drew Tanaka is in three of my classes and she's a nightmare. She knows exactly how to instigate me. And no one ever sees her do anything wrong!"

Reyna knew what that was like. She'd had the same problem with Octavian for quite some time. 

"What does she say?" Reyna asked watching a butterfly float past on the morning breeze. 

Thalia didn't respond. Reyna didn't know why. Until at last the other girl mumbled a reply. "I-Luke told her something personal okay? It's why he- stopped me when we went to dinner. I owe him and he has too much leverage over me. It's why I was trying to be quiet about investigating everything. If he finds out he'll ask for me to repay him and I don't know how bad it'll be."

"So he's black mailing you? He can go to prison for that!" Reyna scoffed giving Thalia an incredulous look. 

"Reyna he and I both know that but it doesn't change anything. Do you honestly think the police system around here isn't corrupt?" It was a fair question. The obvious answer was no. The police system was corrupt. Through all the way down to its core. 

"What exactly did you do? What exactly happened to get him to black mail you? Start from the beginning." Reyna demanded. "You seriously didn't tell me this sooner?"

"Dude I didn't want to drop a loaded bomb on you as soon as you got back and it's not like I'm fond about the memories." Thalia replied. "What I tell you. Right now. In this moment. It stays here. Between us okay?"

"Of course. I'd never tell anyone anything you didn't want me to." Reyna sat up and crossed her legs looking intently at Thalia. 

"It was when you left. Sophomore and Junior year. Luke and I were friends, really close and all that. Annabeth was part of our group at the time. It felt nice to have friends again, I wasn't so alone." Thalia explained her eyes darting around the scenery as if she was picturing exactly what she was saying. "This was when I was just getting to know the other girls. Artemis, Zoë, and Bianca so I bounced between groups quite frequently."

"Makes sense." Reyna nodded waiting for her to continue. 

"Anyways we were a lot alike. Luke and I. We both had daddy and mommy issues. We liked the same things, had the same style, everything. It was almost perfect. Something happened along the lines. I guess he fell in love with me." Thalia shrugged resting her chin on her knees again. "I liked him too but I'd never been in love before."

"You didn't know what it was like or what to do." Reyna mumbled understanding perfectly what that was like. 

"We dated for some time and I thought things were good. Like I was doing what I was supposed to." Thalia paused a look of conflict shifting her features. "He was a good guy."

"What changed?" Reyna asked gently. 

"There's a reason I don't want to go to home coming. Not just because it's stupid but because I went last year and I made the biggest mistake of my life." Reyna watched as she stared almost blankly ahead. "Luke was never one to get involved with bad things but people get caught up in the occasion. We didn't really dress up. It was just to see what it was like because we'd never gone before. Anyways we headed back to his place when it was over. I drove. He had gotten pretty intoxicated."

Reyna could sense that things were about to take a sharp down hill slope. She could even infer part of what was going to happen. 

"I wanted to make sure he got back in one piece. His mom wasn't home. I practically dragged him to his room because he could hardly stand. It wasn't that odd I mean I've done it with my mom before but there's a difference. I'm stronger than my mother but not him." Thalia frowned at the thought. "He kissed me. Differently than usual. I had no freaking idea what to do. I let it all happen. Just followed his lead. I didn't understand what was all really happening until it was over and I felt gross. Not how you see it on tv or in movies."

Reyna's heart sank slightly. She never would have pin pointed Thalia as the type of person to ever do such a thing. She was a bit disappointed. 

"Things were different after that. I think he could tell I was avoiding him. That I was disgusted and more importantly that maybe I hated him a bit." Thalia shifted uncomfortably. "He approached me and asked me why. Why it wasn't something I...liked. I couldn't explain it. He got mad and we broke it off. But I think he figured it out eventually."

"Figured what out?" Reyna whispered. 

"I don't know." Thalia replied. 

"That's not an answer. I'm your best friend you can tell me anything. I'm not going to judge you." Reyna laughed but Thalia didn't share the same cheery attitude. 

"Ever think there's a reason I liked hanging out with the other girls so much? Why I was so comfortable with things other people weren't?" Thalia turned her bright blue eyes into me. They burned with a deep intensity. "Almost like I could relate to Zoë's caution when it came to expressing certain things." 

Reyna struggled to process the information. Thalia wanted her to figure it out. To make some sort of inference. It was obvious only when Reyna realized it. Like a bright neon sign flashing in the distance. 

"You're gay." Reyna said earning a nod in response. "I thought it was gonna be something world ending. That's it?"

"Yeah." Thalia nodded. 

"Oh. Okay." Reyna shrugged. Thalia gave her an odd look. "What?"

"You're not worried like other people would be? Afraid that I'm gonna hit on you? You know that sort of thing?" 

"Uh no." Reyna replied. "Dude don't forget that my sister is a raging bisexual. I'm perfectly fine with this." 

Thalia shook her head smiling slightly. "You're one of a kind you know that? The literal best friend in the entire world." 

"I know." Reyna smirked flipping her hair dramatically. "Now as for Luke. He can piss off because we're getting to the bottom this. We're finding everything out and we're doing it together."

Thalia smiled standing up and tugging Reyna to her feet. "Dynamic duo back at it again."

"Agreed." Reyna smiled brightly. "Maybe along the way we can find you a badass girlfriend." 

"Ah. How about we don't." Thalia said. "I'm not gonna date for a long time. Romance break for me."

"Same." Reyna laughed. "So...about that data card."

"Did you contact your hacker friend?" Thalia asked. 

"Yep. Tomorrow we get to see what's on it." Reyna gave an evil smile. 

"Hell yes. We're coming for you universe." Thalia cupped her hands around her mouth. "Fuck the world!"

Reyna laughed as Thalia yelled loudly the breeze blowing through her hair. She seemed happier having gotten rid of a burden. Her smile was bright and beautiful. Reyna stood on he edge of the play set roof and cupped her hands around her mouth as well. "Woohoo!"

The sound echoed across the field and through the neighborhood. Reyna laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. It was a moment that could have been cinematic. A sort of coming of age battle cry. 

The two stood here for a moment smiling at one another before yelling loudly once more. "Fuck the world!"


	8. Confession

Reyna woke to thin rays of light streaming through the window. It took her a moment to recognize where she was but more importantly there was a figure standing in the doorway. Blinking sleep from her eyes she noticed it was Piper. 

"Jason says he made breakfast. Just thought you should know." Piper shifted awkwardly her eyes observing the situation with a keen intensity. Reyna didn't realize why at first until she registered the form clinging to her own. 

Thalia had her legs tangled with hers, the sheets askew, with her head resting lightly on Reyna's shoulder while Reyna's hand had settled on the slight curve of her waist. 

"No need to hurry. Take your time." Piper's slight surprise turned into an amused expression. Reyna said nothing as the girl headed down the hall. She knew plenty well that rushing Thalia awake was a horrible idea. The girl could turn into a grizzly bear. For instance the time they'd had a sleepover and Jason woke her up early. Little Reyna was pretty sure she had a grizzly bear for a friend. 

Instead Reyna sighed and closed her eyes again relaxing in the slight warmth of morning light. Thalia stirred slightly and Reyna knew it wouldn't be long until she was awake as well. She absentmindedly played with the tousled strands of Thalia's hair. She remembered when it was longer, not by much, and she used to make ridiculous hairstyles with it. Thalia had always loved it when people played with her hair, she was very much like a cat in that regard. 

"Is it morning?" Thalia groaned her voice raspy from sleep. Reyna laughed and opened her eyes to study her friend who'd only now started disentangling their limbs. 

"Yes the sun's up." Reyna pointed out. Thalia nodded and stood stretching her arms above her head. 

"You can borrow some clothes again if you want." She offered already looking through her closet. "Here you'd look killer in this."

Thalia tossed her a tattered pair of jeans a black plaid shirt and grey jacket. Reyna didn't argue and began to pull the clothes on after discarding the already borrowed night shirt. She did in fact look better than she would have guessed but it was different from her normal attire. 

"You can head to breakfast I'll be out in a bit I have to tame my hair." Thalia sighed heading to the bathroom. 

"Alright." Reyna hesitantly left the room behind and made her way to the kitchen where a quiet and awkward breakfast was taking place with hushed whispers. It grew quiet when Reyna stepped into view and three sets of eyes settled on her. "Um...morning."

"Hey." Piper smiled being the first to recover from the sudden silence. Reyna was surprised to see Jason sitting next to his mother but more surprised that she seemed to be in a normal state for once. 

Reyna grudgingly took the seat next to Piper and folded her hands in her lap. She didn't move or reach for any of the food. The silence continued on far longer than it needed to. Thalia saved the day when she appeared from the hallway. 

Reyna paused for a moment to study her. She wore black boots like always. Her legs were covered by black fish net tights with a pair of black shorts settled over them. A band tank top graced her torso. Reyna had never heard of them before, it read Harpies. 

"Hold the talk guys I know I'm important." Thalia replied sarcastically taking a seat next to Reyna and reaching for the food. "You not hungry Rey?"

"Oh no I'm fine." Reyna smiled thinly. Jason cleared his throat from where he sat. Thalia turned her head slightly in his direction. 

"You know I hate it when you do that if you want to talk just talk." Thalia sighed leaning back in her seat to look at Jason. 

"I don't necessarily want to bring this up but I'm leaving soon so I figured I should address it now." The tension only grew with that statement. Reyna noticed Thalia's leg bouncing rapidly beneath the table. "I'm concerned about you."

The statement was so sudden Piper dropped her fork in surprise and bashfully picked it up. 

"Um....okay. Why?" Thalia asked a frown clouding her features. 

"Your grades are terrible." Jason said bluntly. "You're close to being suspended again for poor behavior in class with other students."

Thalia's shoulders stiffened. "Okay we are not having this conversation I just wanted a fucking pancake."

"Thalia. Listen." It was the first time Reyna had heard Beryl Grace utter a single word since the time she'd been back in town. Her voice was very quiet, hardly more than a whisper, timid but raspy. 

Thalia's jaw was set and a muscle in her cheek twitched. Piper pretended to be looking at an interesting spot on the table. Reyna couldn't blame her. It felt like they shouldn't be there. 

"You have to fix whatever is going on. If it means that you refrain from socializing as much then so be it. I think it would be a wise decision if you stayed away from the twins-" Jason was cut off by Thalia's palm smacking loudly against the table as she stood. 

"Jason I love you dearly but please stop talking you don't know anything that's going on right now and acting like you do is only making me mad." It was a fair statement. She didn't sound angry, just a deadly calm. Reyna figured he'd keep quiet but she knew Jason was stubborn. 

"I know you've lost friends and if you need someone to talk to then by all means go ahead there's no shame in it."  Piper shot a nervous glance in Jason's direction. 

"I'm afraid Jason that she's made it quiet clear this conversation is over." Reyna couldn't help but speak with an icy tone. She knew first hand what it was like when he chose not to listen. 

Jason's eyes narrowed and his gaze locked onto Reyna. "I don't think you're part of this conversation at the moment."

"Jason." Piper warned but it was pointless. 

"Don't talk to her like that." Thalia frowned. "Just because you dumped her doesn't mean you get to walk all over her. And second of all you're right I have lost friends. You tell me what it's like when people you know get killed and vanish. I dare you to tell Nico or Artemis or Percy to get over it. The only reason you're telling me is because I'm your sister."

"That's exactly it. You're my sister and my responsibility." He nodded. 

"I'm not your responsibility I'm her responsibility." Thalia gestured irritatedly at her mother who'd been watching in a meek silence.   "We all know how well of a job she does."

"Thalia." Jason's voice was as firm as steel. "Be careful with what you say."

"No you listen here. You haven't been here for shit Jason. Stop acting like you know everything." With that Thalia shoved her chair over and walked off from the table. Reyna watched as she grabbed her jacket by the door and stormed outside. 

"You really aren't good at listening." Reyna said shaking her head. 

"Like you would know." Jason frowned looking offended. 

"I would know." Reyna retorted. "You never let me explain myself to you. Whether it was when we disagreed, it you thought I wasn't exactly invested in the attempted relationship." 

"You're not pinning this on me." Jason argued. 

Reyna's attention turned to Piper. "Good luck with this dip shit. He's your responsibility now. You're pretty and seem smart. No hard feelings." 

Reyna was the next to leave heading outside into the nippy air. She didn't see Thalia at first before heading down the driveway and spotting the girl making her way down the street at an angry pace. 

Reyna didn't quite know where Thalia was going but she seemed to be on a mission. The front door opened and Reyna spotted Jason step outside following her gaze. 

"She's done this before she'll be back." He shrugged despite the fact that Thalia was now out of sight. 

"Done what?" Reyna asked fixing him with a glare. 

"Run away for the evening." He replied.  The response set Reyna's nerves on edge. Thalia couldn't disappear for the day on her own, not with the crazy stuff happening. 

Reyna said nothing to Jason as she took off at a run. Feet pounding against the sidewalk as she sprinted down the street following Thalia's path. Turning the corner sharply Reyna ran on arms pumping. 

She stumbled across a vacant park in the faint morning light. Thalia was sitting on the roof of the play house tossing rocks at birds on the ground looking for a free meal. 

Panting Reyna paused just at the base of the play set. "You know you're not going to be able to get down from there because you'll be scared."

Thalia snapped out of whatever daze she was in and peered over the side. She opened her mouth to protest but when her cheeks paled Reyna knew she was right. 

Reyna collected herself for a moment and clambered up the side with ease before she sat on the edge next to Thalia. 

"Sometimes he makes me so angry." Thalia sighed tucking her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. 

"I know what you mean but he hasn't been here he's not going to understand anything if you don't explain it." Reyna leaned back on her elbows still sapped from her almost two mile sprint. 

"The less people who know about everything the better. You said so yourself. It's just between us. The last thing I need is something to happen to him." Reyna couldn't quiet understand how Thalia was so desperate to protect her brother when he could be so infuriating.

"What's been going on in class? You're gonna get suspended if you have another infraction?" Reyna questioned gently. Jason had made good points, it was important to know about these things, but when someone said they didn't want to talk you need to listen. 

"I hate everyone Reyna. So many damn people." Thalia glowered staring angrily at a pigeon. 

"I know how that feels." Reyna sighed. 

"Yeah. Well..." Thalia swallowed hard trying to collect her crazy thoughts. "Drew Tanaka is in three of my classes and she's a nightmare. She knows exactly how to instigate me. And no one ever sees her do anything wrong!"

Reyna knew what that was like. She'd had the same problem with Octavian for quite some time. 

"What does she say?" Reyna asked watching a butterfly float past on the morning breeze. 

Thalia didn't respond. Reyna didn't know why. Until at last the other girl mumbled a reply. "I-Luke told her something personal okay? It's why he- stopped me when we went to dinner. I owe him and he has too much leverage over me. It's why I was trying to be quiet about investigating everything. If he finds out he'll ask for me to repay him and I don't know how bad it'll be."

"So he's black mailing you? He can go to prison for that!" Reyna scoffed giving Thalia an incredulous look. 

"Reyna he and I both know that but it doesn't change anything. Do you honestly think the police system around here isn't corrupt?" It was a fair question. The obvious answer was no. The police system was corrupt. Through all the way down to its core. 

"What exactly did you do? What exactly happened to get him to black mail you? Start from the beginning." Reyna demanded. "You seriously didn't tell me this sooner?"

"Dude I didn't want to drop a loaded bomb on you as soon as you got back and it's not like I'm fond about the memories." Thalia replied. "What I tell you. Right now. In this moment. It stays here. Between us okay?"

"Of course. I'd never tell anyone anything you didn't want me to." Reyna sat up and crossed her legs looking intently at Thalia. 

"It was when you left. Sophomore and Junior year. Luke and I were friends, really close and all that. Annabeth was part of our group at the time. It felt nice to have friends again, I wasn't so alone." Thalia explained her eyes darting around the scenery as if she was picturing exactly what she was saying. "This was when I was just getting to know the other girls. Artemis, Zoë, and Bianca so I bounced between groups quite frequently."

"Makes sense." Reyna nodded waiting for her to continue. 

"Anyways we were a lot alike. Luke and I. We both had daddy and mommy issues. We liked the same things, had the same style, everything. It was almost perfect. Something happened along the lines. I guess he fell in love with me." Thalia shrugged resting her chin on her knees again. "I liked him too but I'd never been in love before."

"You didn't know what it was like or what to do." Reyna mumbled understanding perfectly what that was like. 

"We dated for some time and I thought things were good. Like I was doing what I was supposed to." Thalia paused a look of conflict shifting her features. "He was a good guy."

"What changed?" Reyna asked gently. 

"There's a reason I don't want to go to home coming. Not just because it's stupid but because I went last year and I made the biggest mistake of my life." Reyna watched as she stared almost blankly ahead. "Luke was never one to get involved with bad things but people get caught up in the occasion. We didn't really dress up. It was just to see what it was like because we'd never gone before. Anyways we headed back to his place when it was over. I drove. He had gotten pretty intoxicated."

Reyna could sense that things were about to take a sharp down hill slope. She could even infer part of what was going to happen. 

"I wanted to make sure he got back in one piece. His mom wasn't home. I practically dragged him to his room because he could hardly stand. It wasn't that odd I mean I've done it with my mom before but there's a difference. I'm stronger than my mother but not him." Thalia frowned at the thought. "He kissed me. Differently than usual. I had no freaking idea what to do. I let it all happen. Just followed his lead. I didn't understand what was all really happening until it was over and I felt gross. Not how you see it on tv or in movies."

Reyna's heart sank slightly. She never would have pin pointed Thalia as the type of person to ever do such a thing. She was a bit disappointed. 

"Things were different after that. I think he could tell I was avoiding him. That I was disgusted and more importantly that maybe I hated him a bit." Thalia shifted uncomfortably. "He approached me and asked me why. Why it wasn't something I...liked. I couldn't explain it. He got mad and we broke it off. But I think he figured it out eventually."

"Figured what out?" Reyna whispered. 

"I don't know." Thalia replied. 

"That's not an answer. I'm your best friend you can tell me anything. I'm not going to judge you." Reyna laughed but Thalia didn't share the same cheery attitude. 

"Ever think there's a reason I liked hanging out with the other girls so much? Why I was so comfortable with things other people weren't?" Thalia turned her bright blue eyes into me. They burned with a deep intensity. "Almost like I could relate to Zoë's caution when it came to expressing certain things." 

Reyna struggled to process the information. Thalia wanted her to figure it out. To make some sort of inference. It was obvious only when Reyna realized it. Like a bright neon sign flashing in the distance. 

"You're gay." Reyna said earning a nod in response. "I thought it was gonna be something world ending. That's it?"

"Yeah." Thalia nodded. 

"Oh. Okay." Reyna shrugged. Thalia gave her an odd look. "What?"

"You're not worried like other people would be? Afraid that I'm gonna hit on you? You know that sort of thing?" 

"Uh no." Reyna replied. "Dude don't forget that my sister is a raging bisexual. I'm perfectly fine with this." 

Thalia shook her head smiling slightly. "You're one of a kind you know that? The literal best friend in the entire world." 

"I know." Reyna smirked flipping her hair dramatically. "Now as for Luke. He can piss off because we're getting to the bottom this. We're finding everything out and we're doing it together."

Thalia smiled standing up and tugging Reyna to her feet. "Dynamic duo back at it again."

"Agreed." Reyna smiled brightly. "Maybe along the way we can find you a badass girlfriend." 

"Ah. How about we don't." Thalia said. "I'm not gonna date for a long time. Romance break for me."

"Same." Reyna laughed. "So...about that data card."

"Did you contact your hacker friend?" Thalia asked. 

"Yep. Tomorrow we get to see what's on it." Reyna gave an evil smile. 

"Hell yes. We're coming for you universe." Thalia cupped her hands around her mouth. "Fuck the world!"

Reyna laughed as Thalia yelled loudly the breeze blowing through her hair. She seemed happier having gotten rid of a burden. Her smile was bright and beautiful. Reyna stood on he edge of the play set roof and cupped her hands around her mouth as well. "Woohoo!"

The sound echoed across the field and through the neighborhood. Reyna laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. It was a moment that could have been cinematic. A sort of coming of age battle cry. 

The two stood here for a moment smiling at one another before yelling loudly once more. "Fuck the world!"


	9. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also about the voting it was exclusive to my Wattpad followers. Sorry.

"So this is the tech friend you have?" Thalia asked looking at the Hispanic elf looking boy in Reyna's garage. 

"Leo Valdez at you service." The boy winked and gave a flamboyant bow. 

"Yeah. Alright Leo you owe me a favor. Can you figure this out? Get any information you can off of it?" Reyna held up the phone hard drive. 

"Sure thing hot stuff." Leo took the hard drive from Reyna and turned it over on his palm. "When do you want it back?"

"As soon as possible." Reyna said. 

"Deal." Leo smiled tucking it into his pocket. "So how'd you get it? What's it for?" 

"Found it. Just curious to see what's on it." Reyna shrugged though it was clear Leo didn't believe what she'd said.

"Alright. Well your motives are confidential." Leo promised cracking his knuckles. "See you around ladies."

Leo left without much else to say leaving the two girls alone in the garage. Thalia was skeptical. "You really trust him with that?"

"It's him or we never figure out what that hard drive holds." Reyna sighed. "I don't particularly like it but his record is good."

"Alright I trust you. Now, what are we doing in the meantime?" Thalia asked.

"Homecoming is tonight." Reyna said. Thalia immediately recoiled. 

"I thought we weren't going. I'm sure as hell not." Thalia shook her head. 

"No, I know that. The after party." Reyna said. "I was talking to Annabeth when I ran into her yesterday. She said the after party is at Drew's. Drew is on the in crowd with Luke and his squad."

"You're suggesting we snoop around?" Thalia questioned ticking her hands on her pockets. 

"I'm saying it might be an opportunity to figure some other things out." Reyna sighed glancing at their small evidence wall. So far it was pretty blank. 

"I agree but it's going to be suspicious especially because Drew knows I hate her. I wouldn't willingly go to her house ever." Thalia explained a shiver passing down her spine. 

"That's why I have a plan." Reyna smiled. "We need fake dates."

"Oh no. I know what the look on your face means. I'm not letting you play match maker." Thalia took a step back holding her hands up defensively. 

"Oh please I'm not gonna pair you up with someone stupid. You're going to go with me." Reyna shrugged. 

"And you're cool with that?" Thalia asked raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah. All we have to do is dress up a little bit." Even Reyna didn't seem to fond of the idea. 

"I guess we better start with the torture then. What have you got stored up your sleeve Arellano?" Thalia was at Reyna's mercy. The other girl managed to find a somewhat nice outfit. It was her father's old dress jacket and a white collared shirt to go underneath. Thalia of course insisted on adding her own flare. 

She rolled the sleeves up to the elbow and kept her tattered jeans and boots. "It's good enough for it to look like I tried." 

Reyna rolled her eyes but went with the same sort of idea. A decent outfit that could pass off as an attempt. Just as they finished up their phones buzzed from an incoming message. 

Leo: Gals you're gonna want to check this stuff out.

Thals: Can you send it?

Leo: Nah man. I'm not putting this shit on the internet. Drop by my place real fast. 

Rey: Fine we're heading over. Don't do anything stupid. 

Reyna tucked her phone into Thalia's pocket as she didn't have any of her own at the moment and the two girls headed outside. The air was getting colder and in the darkening sky Thalia could see her breath.

They walked quickly to Leo's house which wasn't too far away and rapped on the basement window where he liked to do most of his dirty work. The impish face smiled back at them and he bolted away to unlock the front door. 

"Welcome." Leo smiled opening the door with a flourish and admitting the two girls entrance. "Down to the basement we go."

Thalia gave Reyna a sideways glance before following Leo down the carpeted steps. The lights were off and numerous computer screens were glowing. 

"Do your parents know you do this?" Thalia asked. 

"Yeah. My Dad doesn't care." Leo shrugged sitting in a rather comfy looking office chair and wheeling over to a particular computer. "Everything I could get off the hard drive is here. I didn't look through much of it so knock yourselves out."

With that Leo clicked a few keys and brought up a folder before standing and leaving. Thalia took the seat and stared at the contents of the folder. "Where do we start?"

"Text messages." Reyna suggested pointing to another folder. Thalia clicked on it and multiple screenshots appeared on the screen. Thalia enlarged the first one. 

N: You better come clean now man. What did you do?!

O: Nothing. He wanted information I gave it to him. I was hired. Don't act like you're a saint. 

N: You dumb ass! You think no one's going to notice? What do we do now? Where do we put...'it'? 

O: You know perfectly well where. It's your job to complete the transaction, one more ally we have here the better. You won't be getting in trouble for that manslaughter attempt of yours after this. 

Thalia clicked on to the next one her pulse quickening. Reyna peered expectantly over her shoulder. 

N: Everything worked out fine but you better not act impulsively again. The police are going to get involved on this one so I hope your new "ally" comes in handy this time around.

O: Don't worry he will. 

"I bet this is about Zoë." Thalia frowned. "Those dirty scumbags! What kind of information did Octavian get?"

"Keep looking we might find something." Reyna said clocking to anew conversation. 

K: I trust you've exposed the traitor. 

D: Of course. She wasn't hard to figure out. Just a bit of gossip. 

K: Good. I'll handle the rest. Any information that was gathered needs to be disposed of. Permanently. Don't mess this up. 

Another picture down another one to go. 

L: We gotta take the opportunity while we can. Take him out before he eats on us for the girl. 

O: I'm not one who's experienced with explosives or fire. 

L: Doesn't matter I know a guy. 

"Beckendorf. He was experience in that sort of thing. His mother was a fire fighter he helped make resigning drills for her squad." Thalia breathed eyes flicking across the screen. 

L: There was an accident man!

O: What did you do dumb ass?

L: Listen the car accident worked okay but the place-they can trace it back to his house!

O: You're kidding me?! You didn't cover your tracks?

L: Shut up and help me cover this up. Meet me in the side lot in an hour. Bring your car and the gas can. 

O: I hope you know whatever the hell you're doing. 

"Why'd you stop?" Reyna asked as Thalia took her hand off the mouse. 

"I don't wanna look anymore." Thalia shook her head her hands shaking. 

"Thalia this is our one shot to get as much information as we can." Reyna insisted continuing on. 

This time the file came to an end. There were no more text messages. Reyna moved on to the next folder. Pictures. It was the last but most condemning folder. 

Dozens of pictures were contained. The first dozen were all different angles of a burning car, the next good chunk were of a flaming house and the aftermath, then a car accident. The most chilling was yet to come. There was a blank cellar room that looked to be under construction. 

What really made Reyna's blood run cold was after these odd photos of objects. The rest of the folder consisted of images snagged by people she knew. Percy and Annabeth walking hand in hand. Nico at the crash sight of his sister's death. Percy once again only this time someone had him by his hoodie and slammed against the side of a car. 

There was more to come. Thalia and Bianca chilling at the park. Numerous shots of the girls on the soccer team. Pictures of Annabeth and Percy kissing. Nico talking to a blonde haired boy that wasn't Jason. Artemis and Zoë holding hands. Apollo at a party. Anything you could think of, any private moment had somehow been captured on camera. 

"I think I'm going to be sick." Thalia winced turning away from the screen and getting to her feet. Reyna swallowed hard and looked away. 

"Calm down." Reyna spoke calmly. 

"Calm down? Reyna I'm in those pictures. My friends are in Jose pictures. Someone was watching us and I didn't even know!" Thalia whispered angrily her eyes  darting to the stairwell to make sure no one was listening. "Those text messages are directly linked to the crimes that are happening." 

"I know." Reyna rested her hands on Thalia's shoulders. "Listen to me. We can transfer this onto a new drive. Destroy the old one and take it to the police."

"The police?! Reyna, the police are in their pockets!" Thalia replied shaking her head. "The police won't do anything. We shouldn't have looked at this the less we know the better."

"No Thalia, the more we know the better. We're going to figure this out. Don't back down now. I know you want to know what happened to your friends. To give yourself closure. This is the only way it's going to happen." Reyna insisted pressing her forehead against Thalia's. 

"I don't want you getting h her because I dragged you into this. Octavian came after me once. If they find out we know all of this the consequences could be deadly." Thalia argued her eyes avoiding Reyna's at all costs. 

"I'm not letting anything happen to you." Reyna promised. "We take the drive back to my place for now. Okay?"

"Yeah okay." Thalia nodded but she seemed scared. Paler than usual. Reyna removed the hard drive from the computer and tucked it in her pocket. After a hurried goodbye with Leo she gripped Thalia's hand and guided her back down the streets. Reyna was quiet in dragging Thalia to her father's room. She hadn't been there in ages but this she didn't think he would mind. 

Reyna unlocked the door and stepped inside tugging Thalia in after her. She flicked on the light switches and made her way over to the case. Inside were numerous guns. Her father's prized collection. 

"My dad taught me how to shoot when I was little." Reyna stayed examining the weaponry. 

"Are we still going to the party?" Thalia asked nervously. 

"I don't know. Point is if we need to protect ourselves we have these. Better yet, if we need to destroy the hard drive we can get rid of it. A few bullets go a long way." Reyna sighed looking at the small pistol she'd used to train with. "What do you think?"

Thalia didn't have an answer. It was a lot to think about. She swallowed nervously...

Decision time: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RDGGS36


	10. Blood

"Take the gun. The way things are now protection isn't a bad thing. We keep the data from the hard drive but we keep it secret. As for the party I say we go. See if we can't make better sense of everything. Besides I'm curious about what Drew knows." Thalia watched as Reyna took the weapon and checked the barrel of the pistol. 

It was loaded, with a sigh Reyna handed it to me. "Tuck it in your waist band. Your shirt and jacket should cover it." 

"I've never shot a gun before." Thalia admitted taking it gingerly and turning it over in her hands. 

"Then you better get some practice." Reyna opened the drawer of her father's desk and pulled out a box of bullets. "Let's go we have maybe an hour." 

"Alright." Thalia nodded tucking the gun away and then the bullets. Reyna and Thalia made their way to a down town part of the area, here there was a small river that ran through the woods. 

Reyna figured it was best if they were out of sight from public eye insisting they go a little ways in the treeline. Thalia obliged and after a bit of effort Reyna managed to collect some old junk to make a target. Nothing like an old tire to shoot at. 

"Alright. Now to teach you how to shoot." Runs breathed dusting her hands off on her pants and making her way back to Thalia. Thalia handed her the weapon. 

Reyna showed her how to hold it properly and warned her about the kickback that could occur. Once Reyna was certain Thalia was remotely prepared she turned the girl loose. 

Sighing Thalia rolled her shoulders and raised the weapon making sure to hold it as Reyna had shown her. Grip firm her finger hovered just over the trigger. It felt odd to hold something so powerful. It could cause serious damage but it was in her hands of all people. 

"Just breath. Don't think." Reyna instructed calmly seeming to sense Thalia's nerves. 

"Got it." Reyna watched as Thalia's eyes narrowed into a rather force expression, pupils shrinking as she focused. Her finger pulled the trigger and she remained rooted to the spot as the gun kicked back. The barrel steamed from the friction and the thunk of the bullet hitting the fire echoed in the trees. 

Reyna stood there for a moment in awe. Thalia had impeccable aim managing to hit the center of the O in the tire brand name. Throat dry Reyna shook her head collecting herself. "Seems like you didn't need much teaching," 

"Lucky shot." Thalia said staring at the gun with a mixture of emotions. It felt incredible, her heart hammered with adrenaline. Pulling back the hammer Thalia raised the weapon once again and just like before aimed for a letter. The crack of the gun was followed by the tearing of rubber as the bullet slammed into her target. 

A slight smile tugged at the edges of Thalia's mouth. "Maybe it wasn't so lucky."

"Alright put the gun down. Don't get too trigger happy." Reyna joked uncrossing her arms and walking back to Thalia from her safe distance. Thalia nodded and tucked the gun back in the waist band of her jeans. "The real test is making it through this party."

"Well I'm a C and D average student so don't have high expectations about me passing tests." Thalia smirked lopsidedly at her little joke earning an eye roll from Reyna. 

"Lucky for you I don't like failing tests. Now, we have a long walk so let's get going." Reyna tugged on Thalia's sleeves flattening out some of the wrinkles. 

"Copy that captain." Thalia tried to tame her hair at least a tiny bit but it was hopeless as they made their way back from the secret spot. It indeed was a long walk but the weather was nice. 

There's something about walking down barren roads with the sky dimming overhead that gives one a melancholy feeling. Like the world stopped turning just for you, while that's special, you know it won't last forever. 

It wasn't hard to find Drew's house. Lights were flashing from the windows and music pulsed from the house in loud rhythms. Thalia wasn't opposed to loud music, her's was often loud, but this was just bad music. 

Sighing she followed Reyna up the steps to the large front door with the overly expensive doorbell. As it turned out no one heard the doorbell so the two girls awkwardly showed themselves inside. 

Dozens of smells but Thalia at once. Sweat, alcohol, pizza. Reyna on the other hand found it hard to make much out in all of the chaos. Squinting due to the flickering lights she gripped Thalia's hand in her own and guided her through the crowd. 

They'd gone unnoticed for the most part except for a glance or two. Reyna turned her nose up at the numerous high school students dancing provocatively grinding on one another in a hormone induced frenzy. 

She never understood how people could demean themselves in such a manor. On the counter rested bottles of soda, punch, beer, and bowls of snacks that Reyna and Thalia were both sure had been touched by hands that had been in nasty areas. 

"Tell me you have a plan." Thalia called over the music glancing about. Her head was swarming with too many things to process at once. 

"I do. Just follow my led okay?" Reyna gave her a half smile and patted Thalia on the shoulder. 

"Hey girls! Thought you weren't coming!" Thalia winced at Apollo's familiar drawl and turned to see him walking over happily. 

"Hey." Reyna waved lacking enthusiasm. 

"Come on let's head outback. It's quieter there." Thalia was about to protest when Apollo winked at her and tugged Reyna behind him. 

"Hey man, come on." Thalia groaned trying to follow but she was cut off by a group of kids making a straight shot for a pizza box while another dove for the garbage can before throwing up. 

Thalia felt vulnerable her eyes glancing around for familiar faces. She briefly spotted Nico sulking in a corner but she lost track of him in the mess. The music seemed to be getting louder and even more disorienting. 

"Hey pumpkin. You lost?" The voice caused dread to settle in her stomach as an arm slung around her shoulders. 

"Don't touch me." Thalia recoiled from Orion who gave her a feigned offended look. 

"Just want to help. Lost that friend of yours?" He asked eyes scanning the throng of people. 

"None of your business. Have you seen Apollo?" Thalia demanded getting shoved to the side by an eager boy making his way to the backyard. 

"No I haven't. Hey, you know someone I know wants to meet you." Orion's eyes glinted in a dangerous way. 

"Look I have places to be." Thalia looked for the quickest means of escape but it wasn't an option. Just like Reyna, Thalia was pulled roughly through the crowd and herded towards the front door. "Look man get off of me!"

"Hey now I don't bite." He winked shoving her down the front steps and into the cool night air. 

"Step aside or I swear to God I will hurt you." Thalia growled making a move to go back inside where other people could at least see if something bad happened. 

No such luck. A large hand cuffed the back of her neck and shoved her towards the street where cars lined the road. Waiting there was Octavian, arms crossed, blue eyes flaring angrily. 

"You little bitch." Octavian growled. 

"Look I don't know what you want but you better not fuck with me." Thalia glanced about getting a feel for her surroundings. 

"Let's take a walk shall we?" Octavian sneered gesturing for Orion and I to take the front. There was a good chance Thalia could run away and be quicker than they were. The question was wether or not she could out power Orion. That seemed unlikely as he was built like an ox. 

The end of the block was where the rich people golf courses were and those connected to a lake. It was empty and grim looking in the dark. 

"I know you have that hard drive." Octavian glowered. 

"Actually I don't. I have no idea what you're talking about," Thalia frowned glancing between the two boys as Orion took a step back. 

"Oh cut the shit Grace. That Hispanic friend of yours spilled his guts." Thalia's blood ran cold. "That's right. You know who I'm talking about."

"What did you do to him?" Thalia demanded her fists balling tightly. 

"That's to the discretion of me. You're in no position to argue. Now...give it to me." Thalia watched as his hand dipped into his pocket producing the switch blade he'd pulled on her once already. 

"I told you I don't have it." Thalia glared watching his hand carefully. 

"Now, now." Octavian waved the blade carelessly and took a step forward. Thalia would have backed up if it wasn't for the ledge that dropped into the golf course lake behind her. Octavian reached out quickly grabbing the back of her head and pulling her closer. The blade rested against her mouth. "Feel like talking sweet heart?"

"Take a step back." Thalia warned remembering she was the one with the pistol. Octavian rolled his eyes. 

"Last chance before I make you smile and then gut you like a fish." 

"Why? So you can hide my body and pay off the police like you did with Charlie, Zoë, and Silena?" Thalia's fingers twitched and in Octavian's moment of contemplation she shoved him backwards pulling the gun. 

Octavian's eyes widens in surprise. He took an extra step back but it didn't stop a smirk from playing across his features. "A bold statement." 

"Drop the knife." Thalia ordered. 

"Not happening. Besides it's two against one." Orion said drawing a blade of his own. 

"You heard her, put the blade down." Thalia glanced to the right surprised to see Reyna standing there with what looked to be a bat. Something told Thalia she'd stolen it from Drew's garage, the popular girl was a huge softball player, guess Reyna was just borrowing it. 

"Here's the dilemma Grace. You've pulled the weapon, now you have to use it." Octavian snickered his eyes gleaming. "You shoot or you flake out. If you bale you're dead. But you don't have the balls to shoot."

"You have no idea what I am capable of." Reyna watched as Thalia's expression shifted to how it had been earlier when firing at the tire. "You've earned this. You deserve it. For all the shit you put people through but I need to now something. What do the eyes mean? Who is K on the contacts list?"

Octavian said nothing but stood there knife tightening on the handle of his knife. 

"I said who is K?" Thalia yelled peering down the sight of the gun. She could see Octavian's forehead just between the eyes. 

"You'll find out soon enough." He mused swinging wildly with the blade. Thalia felt it slice deep into her forearm. She lost hold of the gun as Octavian made a bolt for it. Orion wasn't so lucky. Reyna slammed the bat into the back of his knees. The giant figure toppled to the ground. Before Octavian could get too far Thalia pounced tackling him to the ground. 

The blonde fumbled for the scattered weapon hand clamping lightly around the hilt. Thalia managed to just barely kick it away with her foot. Orion scooped it up and clambered to his feet as Thalia pounded her fists into Octavian's face. 

Reyna dropped the bat knowing it was useless against the gun. Octavian slashed Wild into once again this time the blade dragged across her face. 

Blood gushed from the wound as he pushed her back with anger. Orion's finger rested in the trigger and Thalia could see his muscle twitch just as he pulled down on it. Lunging she reached him just as the gun went off. There was a loud yell from Reyna and Octavian cried out in pain. Thalia an Orion toppled to the ground. 

Even in the dark it was unmistakable. The sidewalk was covered in blood.


	11. Alright

Reyna wasn't quite sure what happened. One moment there was a bang the next there was blood and lots of it. Thalia scrambled to her feet and grasped Reyna's arm her hand slick with blood. 

"Come on!" She yelled dragging Reyna down the street at a sprint. Reyna stared back at the incident in horror before shaking her head and following Thalia. She wasn't sure where they were going but it didn't matter, they needed to get away and fast. 

"Are you hurt?" Reyna panted as the ducked into a side street and Thalia slumped against the wall out of breath. Reyna noticed her free hand was now clamped over the wound that was gushing blood from her wrist. "Oh God."

"I need to get home." Thalia grunted as a puddle of blood collected on the ground. 

"No you need to get to the hospital." Reyna said kneeling in front of her worriedly. 

"My mom can't afford that shit." Thalia growled biting her lip to distract herself from the pain. "Take me to Apollo's. There's medical supplies there, he studied medicine."

"You're insane!" Reyna looked at her friend wide eyed before dragging her to her feet and guiding her down the street. It was a painstakingly long walk and Reyna knew by the way Thalia was staggering she'd lost too much blood already. 

Reyna knocked on the door urgently and thankfully Artemis was quick to open it. The other girl was about to ask what was wrong when she spotted all of the blood. "Inside now. Bathroom. Go."

Reyna was half carrying Thalia now and held the girl's wrist over the sink when they made it to the bathroom. Thalia was having a hard time staying awake. 

"What the hell happened?" Artemis demanded sprinting down the hall with her brother's first aid kit. "Where's Apollo?"

"He's still at the party. Octavian and Prion tried to pull some crazy ass stuff." Reyna didn't know how to stitch anything but she'd seen it done once on a documentary. Thalia was too out of it to feel the pain anyways and with shaking hands Reyna tried to suture the wound. 

"Why would they corner you guys? They want nothing to do with any of us." Artemis frowned trying to clean up all of the blood. 

"Look it's a long story alright? We found some stuff out and they know. They're behind all of this." Reyna breathed tying off the end of the thread.  

"Thalia I told you not to go looking into anything!" Artemis growled looking like she wanted to slap the delirious Grace who could only slur a half hearted apology. 

"We went to the scene of Selina's death. We found this watch and some eye print and a data drive. I'm guessing it got blown up." Reyna explained. "Thing is Leo checked the hard drive. There's all sorts of stuff on it. Messages, photos, all of it about the stuff going on."

"You should have gotten rid of that when you had the chance." Artemis shook her head smacking Thalia on the cheek to keep her awake. 

"I figured we could use it." Reyna grunted bandaging over the poor stitch job. 

"What? Turn it into the cops?" Thalia's breathing slowed down a bit but she seemed more stable now that the bleeding wasn't as bad. 

"I don't know. Do something with it!" Reyna retorted. 

"You don't get it." Artemis smacked Reyna's hands away from the medical kit drawing her attention, grabbing her by the front of her shirt. "They will kill you. The police are in their pocket. You are asking for a death wish."

"Don't you want to know what happened to them?" Reyna asked studying the other girl's silver eyes. 

"No I don't. Whatever it was, it was horrible, I don't need that on my conscience." 

"Look at the hard drive." Reyna had brought it along against better judgment. She wasn't sure why but she felt like it needed to be on her at all times, in the right hands. She placed it in Artemis' hands. 

With that Reyna carried Thalia out to the couch and propped her up on a few pillows. "Stay awake Grace."

"I'm hungry." Thalia mumbled. Reyna couldn't help but laugh ever so slightly. 

"Right. Well I'll get you something." She smiled double checking the medical job she'd done. 

"Bacon? Yeah...that would be pretty nice." Thalia smiled lopsidedly. 

"You are a dork." Reyna laughed shaking her head. "Fine, maybe if you behave."

Thalia lazily saluted. "Aye aye captain."

The front door opened and Apollo entered with wild hair and a party scent to him. You know the kind where alcohol, body odor, and gross snacks all mixed together. "Dudes there was some crazy fight that happened."

"We know." Artemis replied curtly not looking too pleased about his state of being. "Get inside and wash off you're disgusting."

"Nah man, I'm a chick magnet." He smiled his teeth impossibly white. Still Apollo headed down the hall not too steady on his feet. 

"You all are going to drive me insane." Artemis sighed shaking her head. "If you need anything I'll be in my room...I guess."

Reyna watched her go a tiredness never seeming to leave the girl. In truth Reyna felt a bit guilty for springing so much on her at once. Reyna stayed next to Thalia for a good hour making sure her vitals were steady before she allowed Thalia to fall asleep. 

Apollo sang loudly in the shower but surprisingly well. Collecting her thoughts Reyna headed up stairs readying an apology in her mind for the auburn haired girl. Perhaps she should have knocked but Reyna didn't think much about it. 

She opened the door to the relatively barren room to see Artemis sitting on the floor with her legs crossed the dusty box that had been tucked aside in the corner of the closet now open in front of her. 

Reyna guessed she should have walked away but she was curious. Artemis pulled something out that was immediately recognizable as a letter man's jacket. It was grey with black patches for different sorts of achievements. On the back was a carefully stitched name, Nightshade. 

Artemis studied the item carefully running her fingers over the lettering before slipping it on and snuggling into the fabric. She glanced back inside the box and rummaged around before a very slight smile caused the corners of her lips to twitch. She withdrew a baseball with a signature scrawled on it and a date. 

Reyna couldn't help but feel a bit sad for the other girl. She made a move to leave when Artemis spotted her. "You can come in."

Reyna froze like a kid being caught stealing from a cookie jar. "A-are you sure?"

"I guess I want company for once. It keeps me from wanting to do stupid stuff." Reyna didn't quite know what those words implied but she got the feeling that digging through the box of items didn't always bring happy emotions. 

"The baseball. What game was it?" Reyna asked stepping inside and shutting the door. 

"San Francisco Giants versus The Cardinals. It wasn't important to either of us but it was our first real date. The only reason we got this though was because one of the Cardinal players have it back." Artemis explained turning the ball over in her hands. 

"Gave it back?" Reyna questioned. 

"Well you aren't supposed to throw a ball back on the field if you catch one. Well there was a player on the Giants, I forget his name, but he is a notoriously sexist person. He gave the ball to Zoë and she just looked him dead in the eye and chucked it back at his head." Reyna  couldn't help but laugh, in fact she could picture Thalia doing something similar. 

"That's actually amazing." Reyna smiled. She watched in amusement Artemis set the ball back in the box and instead pulled out a picture frame. 

"This was her favorite and only photo of all of us." Artemis passed the frame over to Reyna. It really was a pretty picture. It consisted of four somewhat familiar people. Thalia was sitting on a stool smiling dorkishly while holding a guitar. Meanwhile Bianca was a blur dancing wildly in her socks. Zoë had from he looks of it stolen Thalia's hat and sunglasses and was now wearing them pretending to be a rapper. Artemis held a glass of water in hand and judging by her expression she was trying not to spit it everywhere from laughing. "Apollo snagged it during a sleep over."

"I can only imagine the look on his face." Reyna smiled handing the photo back. "What's that?"

"That was Zoë's favorite book." Artemis said gingerly picking up the worn piece of literature. "She always had a fascination with Shakespeare but she despised Romeo and Juliet. Couldn't read more than a paragraph."

"I always hated Romeo and Juliet. It makes no sense to me." Reyna shook her head. "Why pine over some asshole of a boy like that?"

"That was her thinking." Artemis laughed. "My brother has tried numerous times to get rid of all this."

"What? Why?" Reyna asked in surprise. 

"He thinks I'm stupid for holding on to the past but..." Artemis shook her head. 

"You don't have to explain." Reyna spoke softly. 

"I have to remember things. If I forget I won't forgive myself. Besides it's the only comfort I really have anymore. I can pretend that maybe tomorrow she'll come walking back in the front door. I don't know what I'd do if he ever got rid of this stuff. Probably die." Reyna noticed how Artemis' expression shifted to one of sadness and lack of emotion. She briefly recalled the pill bottles that remained full on the girl's desk. 

It wasn't her call to make but Reyna knew from Thalia that Apollo only grew more and more pissed off with Artemis' lack of caring for herself. Only Reyna realized that Artemis wanted to be sad. It was her way of making sure she was still capable of feeling, still capable of grieving over her loss, the day she went numb clearly frightened Artemis. 

She would rather feel too much than nothing at all. Pain was better than nothing, and in a wayReyna understood. She had been very much the same when it came to the loss of her father. 

"Maybe she will. Tell you what, you don't have to look at the hard drive." Reyna held out her hand and Artemis all too willingly gave the data back. Reyna realized maybe she didn't need to look at it. If she did there was no telling what kind of impact that could have on Artemis' psyche. "I'll get rid of it when I can."

"I'm sorry for being so...rude, things are just difficult. Apollo gets so angry at me but then he goes and parties all the time. It's like, I know he's as defeated as I am but it's not the same. He doesn't want to feel anything. I don't understand." Artemis shook her head. 

Reyna sighed. They were twins and yet polar opposites, Apollo wanted to feel nothing at all, Artemis wanted to feel everything, she was secluded while he insisted on socializing, she held on to the past, he rushed to forget it. They would come to a confrontation eventually and Reyna wasn't sure either would come out in tact if such a thing were to happen.

"It's okay. Things are hard on all of us. I just, since I came back, things have felt better, having Thalia around makes me feel like a kid again." Reyna explained with a melancholy hint to her voice. "I still feel guilty for vanishing like I did."

"Hey, if one of us can have a vanishing girl cut the magician's act and reappear I'm glad it's her." Artemis gave Reyna a tired smiled and Reyna got the impression the conversation was drawing to a close. "She's lucky to have you."

"Thanks. Sometimes I think it's the other way around." Reyna stiff and bid Artemis farewell. She managed to collect a sleeping Thalia and after calling Hylla and providing a shitty explanation Reyna dropped Thalia off at her home and made it one piece back to her own. 

"You okay hermana?" Hylla asked glancing at Reyna as she pulled into her driveway. "You're quite."

"I'm alright." Reyna gave her a soft smile. Seems like I'm the only one who's ever alright.


	12. Streaming on Twitch!

Hey guys! I'm gonna be streaming tonight at5:45 on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/phantomcomposer

Stop by if you wanna chat! Ask questions about the stories or anything I'll gladly answer!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help influence the plot at the end of the story. Help decide what happens next! Visit the option survey here to make your voice heard! 
> 
> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3W56BT9

Thalia felt bad remembering that Jason had left and she hadn't said goodbye. She felt guilty but at the same time they had tried to accomplish an important plan, it sadly she didn't work. However as Thalia lay in bed staring at the dark ceiling she began to cook something up in her head. An idea that was nearly fool proof. 

Even as she heard her mother stumble into the house she kept planning. She would have to see how Reyna felt about the idea after soccer practice tomorrow morning. Sighing she rolled into her side and forced herself to fall asleep. 

Getting to practice wasn't hard. Thalia just slung on her practice clothes and tennis shoes, gathered her duffel bag, and set on her way at a quick run. She'd done it for years now, the run was just an extra long warm up. The cold air felt good against her skin and she occasionally spotted another person out and about. 

A few others were already at the field kicking a ball around. Thalia wasn't late but she wasn't the earliest to arrive. Annabeth was expertly juggling the ball occasionally passing it over to Rachel. 

Shafting off her jacket Thalia slung it over the fence and jogged onto the field snatching the ball away from Annabeth. 

"Thalia Grace you suck." Annabeth jokingly flipped her off as she tossed the ball back to the blonde. 

"I don't suck I'm amazing." Thalia countered ducking the ball as Annabeth threw it at her head. 

"Sure you are." Thalia flinched at the light snack on the back of her head as Artemis, having newly arrived, passed the ball back over to Annabeth. "You feeling better after last night?" 

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Thalia gave her an apologetic smile. 

"It's fine." Artemis shrugged. 

"What happened last night?" Rachel asked curiously. 

"Hey guys!" Hazel bounded over excitedly followed by Reyna and a moment later coach Hermes. 

"What's up Hazelnut?" Annabeth smiled ruffling the smaller girl's hair. 

"Okay gals enough chit chat." Coach Hermes chuckled tucking his clip board under his arm. "You've all played before even the new faces yes?" 

Thalia felt a bit bad not talking to the newer additions to the varsity team but she also didn't care much. The group collectively nodded earning a pleased smile from Hermes. 

"Great, let's get started with some passing drills shall we? If you guys kill it we can do a small skirmish at the end." He winked glancing down at his clip board while we each grabbed a partner. 

"Let's see if you're rusty." I smiled tossing a ball to Reyna. 

"Likewise Grace." She said but her eyes studied my bandages wrist worriedly. 

"I'm fine." I promised. "Mind if we talk after practice?" 

"Yeah." She nodded setting the ball down and kicking it my way. Our passes were quick and efficient with little mishaps. One touch and the ball was gone before coming back just as quick. 

They worked well together like an oiled machine. Anything Hermes threw out they pounced on it eager to show off and better yet out do each other. 

"Fight for the ball you two. Elbow up! That's it!" He encouraged as they tried to throw one another off the ball. In the end Thalia stumbled due to a groove in the grass and Reyna claimed the goal. 

"Better luck next time Grace." She smiled jogging back to the two single file lines as Rachel and Hazel faced off against one another. Sweat caused the back of her shirt to cling to the space between her shoulder blades. At least Thalia knew she was giving Reyna a run for her money. 

Just for kicks Hermes even faced them off on opposite teams during the skirmish. Thalia was mid field while Reyna was striker doing her best to maneuver down the field and working smoothly with Artemis as her right wing and Rachel as her left. 

But the incredible force was met by a sturdy wall of resistance. Annabeth was eager to challenge anyone and her ability to observe footwork from countless hours analyzing pros made her deadly. 

However the fresh meat wasn't as good at defending leaving Hazel all by her lonesome to protect the keeper and back line of defense. Artemis shipped the ball over Thalia's team mate right to the feet of a deadly Reyna taking aim at the goal. 

Thalia sprinting like her life depended on it slid in the cool grass at the last second swiping the ball from beneath Reyna mid step. Tripping on the mix of ball and limbs Reyna crashed on top of Thalia with an irritated grunt. 

"What? Can't shoot Tex?" Thalia quipped. Rolling her eyes Reyna smugly planted her hand on Thalia's face using the other girl's head as leverage to stand up. By the end of practice they were covered in sweat, grass stains, and bruises. 

"That was an amazing shot." Hazel complimented Annabeth with a bright smile. 

"Thanks Haze but you're the best defender we have on that back line. The score would have been miles high without you." Annabeth laughed. 

"Gotta get the fresh meat yo to speed or we'll have our added handed to us in the first match." Artemis whispered stepping up between Reyna and I. 

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked curiously. 

"Out first match is against the Romans. They're cheating scum. Last year the refs got paid off." Artemis explained. 

"Worst game I've ever played. Their striker Gwen is nice though, she doesn't seem to like her team mates very much. Watch out for number 24. Lydia is a monster. Slide tackled me incorrectly and I got a fracture in my shin. Next thing I know she's starting a brawl with Annabeth." Thalia's expression hardened at the memories. "Man I can't wait to kick her ass."

"Like I said that isn't gonna happen unless the newbies adjust. And quickly." Artemis bid us a quick goodbye spotting Apollo waiting impatiently in the car. 

"She has a point." Reyna sighed as we finished collecting our things and began to set off towards our neighborhood. "Anyways you said you wanted to talk to me about something." 

"I do but let's get off campus first." Thalia glanced about nervously picking up the pace the tiniest bit. Reyna followed her friend curiously until they were nearly half a mile away from school before Thalia spoke again. "It's about the hard drive." 

"Thalia we should just get rid of it." Reyna frowned lowering her voice. 

"I know that's what I'm getting at. I came yo with a plan. It's literally fool proof." Thalia smiled. 

"Really? Since when have you ever made a fool proof plan?" Reyna questioned raising her eyebrows. 

"Just hear me out alright?" Reyna sighed but clamped her mouth shut. "Later tonight we comeback to school. There's a way in where the cameras can't catch you. The power generator can be flipped off. The cameras will be cut and we go to the locker rooms by the pool. Octavian does swim. I know his number because it matches the one on his swim cap." 

"You're suggesting we break in the school?!" Reyna had to try extremely hard not to yell. 

"We take the hard drive with us. Clean it off at home wear gloves and shit like that. Pop open his locker and plant the evidence. When we get back home we call the police." Thalia went on glancing about to make sure no one else was in ear shot. 

"You said so yourself, the police won't do shit. They're in Octavian's pocket." Reyna grumbled. 

"That's why we call the police from Jupiter City. They're our rivals remember. They'll pounce at any opportunity to run our name in the dirt." Thalia smirked watching a glint of understanding flicker in Reyna's eyes. She knew her friend was trying to see if it could ever actually pass. "When we leave the school we flip the power back on for a moment but we cut the wires or fry them. They'll blame it on an electrical shortage and suspicion will be out the window. With that done Octavian can't possibly throw us under the bus." 

"Our prints won't be on it and they'll have no footage of us entering or leaving. The cops will investigate and find it tucked in his locker. He'll have to come up with an alibi but if the cameras went out there's no proof to back up hid claims." Reyna smiled seeming to agree with Thalia's scheme. "We could actually pin them on the crimes." 

"Exactly. Like I said it's fool proof. And the security guard Argus is gonna be out of town. No one knows that but me because I heard him talking to my professor about it." Reyna couldn't believe Thalia had managed to put something so brilliant together. 

"They'll think it's suspicious if the hard drive is perfectly clean." Reyna pointed out finding a single fault in the plan. 

"We scratch it up a bit. Make it look like Octavian tampered with the evidence. Tried to get rid of it." Thalia shrugged as they turned into their street corner. 

"Hoe do we get in his locker without the lock looking like it was tampered with?" 

"I have his combo. I had a friend steal it from coach Poseidon. The Stolls are good like that." Thalia winked patting her pocket where Reyna assumed a small slip of paper was tucked snugly away. 

"I hate to say it Grace but you are brilliant." Reyna laughed as they paused at the end of her driveway. "Text me the details from your old phone. Then ditch it. We can't have anything against us understood? If you still wanna follow through with the plan that is. If not just text me normally, but be discrete." 

"Copy that." Thalia smiled making a mental note. She turned and quickly ran off back home. Showering only gave her more time to mull over the idea in complete silence. The worst that could happen was Octavian not getting pinned for it. If they covered their tracks they'd be perfectly fine. 

The question remained however, should they follow through with the plan or ditch it and risk the hard drive falling into the wrong hands? 

Decision 2

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3W56BT9


End file.
